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MANUAL 


AGEICULTUEE 


THE    SCHOOL,    THE    FARM, 


THE    FIRESIDE 


By    GEORGE    B.    EMERSON, 

Author  of  a  "Report  on  the  Trees  and  Shrubs  of  ^Massachusetts," 

AND 

CHARLES    L.   FLINT, 

SECEETAKY  FOK  TWENTY-EIGHT  YEARS  OF  THE   STATE  BOARD  OF  AGUICULTURE, 

Author  of  a  Treatise  on  "  Milch  Cows  and  Dairy  Farming,"'  and  "  Grasses  and  Forage 
Plants,  etc.,  etc. 

A  New  Editioj^,  revised  by 
Dr.   CHARLES    A.    GOESSMANN, 

Professor  of  Chemistry,  Mass.  Agricultural  College. 


NEW  YORK: 
ORANGE    JUDD    COMPANY. 

751  Broadway. 


430 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  J8S5,  by 

Charles  L.  Flint, 
In  the  Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Congress,  at  Washington. 


PREFACE. 


This  work  was  originally  prepared  at  the  special  request 
of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  with  the 
hope  that  it  might  do  something  to  lay  the  foundation  of  a 
complete  agricultural  education.  A  knowledge  of  the  prin- 
ciples which  underlie  an  intelligent  understanding  of  the  jjrt 
of  agriculture  most  certainly  constitutes  a  solid  basis  of  a 
practical  education,  especially  for  every  one  whose  happy 
fortune  it  is  to  live  in  the  country,  upon  his  own  farm,  or 
among  the  farms  of  his  friends,  in  the  midst  of  the  things 
which  God  has  made.  The  farmer  is  destined  to  Avork  upon 
the  surface  of  the  earth,  and  to  use  the  materials  of  which 
it  is  formed.  He  is  to  co-operate  with  the  great  powers  of 
nature,  and  to  be  able,  in  many  instances,  to  control  those 
powers.  He  ought,  therefore,  to  become  acquainted  with 
the  materials  he  is  to  work  ui3on,  and  with  the  powers  he  is 
to  work  with. 

This  study  is  one  of  the  most  useful,  and  at  the  same  time 
one  of  the  most  interesting,  that  can  be  presented  to  the 
inquiring  mind.  There  are  few  facts  exhibited  in  nature,  in 
relation  to  the  animals  and  other  objects  of  daily  observa- 
tion upon  the  farm,  which  do  not  at  once  excite  the  curiosity 
and  appeal  to  the  imagination  ;  and  hence  we  have  a  natu- 
ral desire  to  learn  about  the  earth,  the  different  kinds  of  soil. 


IV  PREFACE. 

the  names  of  the  different  kinds  of  rocks  and  metals,  the 
names  and  proj^erties  of  the  different  kinds  of  plants  and 
how  they  live  and  grow,  the  action  of  heat  and  light,  the 
causes  of  Avind  and  rain,  with  their  effects  upon  the  vege- 
table kingdom,  and  a  thousand  other  things  that  fall  under 
the  eye  of  every  intelligent  observer.  This  study  is  by  no 
means  idle  or  speculative.  It  is,  in  fact,  the  only  knowledge 
which  is  absolutely  sure  to  be  useful  to  every  person  who 
obtains  it. 

The  first  great  demand  of  life  is  for  food,  and  the  chief 
supply  is  from  the  products  of  the  soil.  Agriculture,  there- 
fore, is  of  primary  importance,  not  only  as  the  source  from 
which  we  derive  our  daily  bread,  but  also  as  the  parent 
of  all  other  industrial  pursuits.  Without  agriculture,  indeed, 
there  can  be  no  commerce  or  manufactures,  no  population 
or  prosperity.  Every  person,  whatever  may  be  his  special 
vocation,  must  be  interested  in  its  welfare;  and  every  man, 
woman,  and  child  should  have  some  knowledge  of  the  fun- 
damental principles  of  this  art  of  all  arts. 

In  the  execution  of  the  work,  Mr.  Emerson  prepared  the 
first  thirteen  chapters,  and  the  twenty-first  chaj^ter  upon  the 
Rotation  of  Crops,  and  Mr.  Flint  the  remainder,  commen- 
cing with  the  fourteenth  chapter.  Some  of  the  more  impor- 
tant principles  embraced  in  the  topics  discussed  have  been 
repeated  in  various  forms  and  in  different  connections,  for 
the  purpose  of  impressing  them  more  strongly  upon  the 
mind;  but  it  is  confidently  hoped  that  this  fact  will  not 
make  the  volume  unattractive  to  the  general  reader. 

BosTOi!^,.  January,  1885. 


MANUAL   OF  AGRICULTURE. 


CHAPTER    I, 


INTRODUCTION. 


1.  Agriculture  is  the  art  of  cultivating  tlie  earth.  It 
includes  whatever  is  necessary  for  finding  out  the  nature 
of  the  soil,  clearing  up  the  land,  rendering  it  healthy, 
and  preparing  it  for  tillage,  and  ploughing  it,  and  the 
sowing,  weeding  and  liarvesting  the  crops. 

2.  The  object  of  agriculture  should  be  to  enrich  the 
earth,  and  make  it  produce  the  largest  crops,  of  the 
greatest  value,  at  the  least  expense  of  land,  time,  and 
labor. 

3.  In  order  to  attain  this  object,  the  husbandman  must 
have  capital, — that  is,  money,  for  the  necessary  expen- 
ditures ;  labor,  or  hands  for  the  operations  required ; 
knowledge  of  the  best  ways  of  working;  and  intelligence, 
in  order  to  direct  the  application  of  the  capital  and 
labor. 

4.  A  complete  farm  ought  to  have  woodland,  pasture 
land,  meadow  or  grass  land,  arable  land,  an  orchard,  a 
garden  spot,  and  space  for  roads. 

It  should  have  a  farmer's  house,  a  barn  or  stable  for 
horses,  oxen,   sheep,  and  swine,  and  for  crops,  a  tool- 


L  INTRODUCTION. 

house,  a  dairy,  fences,  walls  or  hedges,  and  wells   or 
springs. 

It  would  be  desirable  to  have  a  stream  running  tlii'ough 
it  or  by  it,  and  to  have  a  pond  or  swamp  connected  with  or 
belonging  to  it. 

5.  A  husbandman  also  wants  capital  to  stock  his  larm 
with  cattle  and  other  anhnals,  and  to  furnish  it  with 
carts,  wagons,  ploughs,  and  other  tools. 

6.  To  carry  on  a  farm  successfully,  a  good  deal  of 
knowledge  and  a  high  degree  of  intelligence  are  neces- 
sary, and  these  are  to  be  obtained  partly  by  study,  and 
partly  by  practice. 

By  study  the  farmer  should  find  out — 1st,  the  nature 
and  mode  of  growth  of  the  plants  and  animals  he  is  to 
have  to  do  with  ;  and  2d,  the  nature  and  properties  of 
the  soil  and  of  the  atmosphere  on  and  in  which  they  live. 

Practice^  or  experience,  is  acquired  by  doing  himself 
the  work  on  a  farm,  under  the  guidance  of  a  skilful 
farmer.  By  means  of  both  study  and  experience,  he 
may  learn  to  avail  himself  of  all  the  means  of  improving 
his  farm  which  arc  in  his  reach,  or  which  he  can  bring 
within  his  reach. 

7.  The  farmer,  indeed,  should  have  that  exact  knowl- 
edge of  facts  and  principles,  of  effects  and  their  causes, 
which  is  called  Science.  For  example,  if  a  farmer  knows 
exactly  what  a  plant  is  made  of,  and  what  nourishment 
it  requires,  and  whether  a  particular  soil  contains  the 
substances  which  will  nourish  that  plant,  and,  if  it  do 
not,  knows  exactly  what  kind  of  manure  does  contain 
proper  nourishment  for  the  plant,  that  farmer  has  a 
scientific  knowledge  of  the  plant,  of  the  soil,  and  of  the 
manure.  He  has  the  science  necessary  to  the  culture 
of  that  plant.     Science  is  exact  knowledge,  obtained  by 


SCIENCE. — USE   OF   EDUCATION.  3 

the  observation  and  experience  of  many  observers,  and 
its  natural  fruit  is  "  the  substitution  of  rational  practice 
for  unsound  prejudice." 

8.  You  see  then  what  is  the  use  of  a  scientific  knowl- 
edge of  the  principles  of  agriculture.  It  prepares  a 
person  for  the  practice  of  agriculture.  A  person  who  has 
thoroughly  learned  the  scientific  principles,  will  under- 
stand, without  any  difiiculty,  the  reasons  for  the  operations 
of  agriculture. 

9.  But  science  will  not  be  sufficient  without  practice. 
Practice  teaches  a  thousand  things  which  have  not  got 
into  the  books.  But  a  knowledge  of  scientific  principles 
opens  one's  eyes  to  observe  and  see  many  facts  which  the 
more  unenlightened  laborer  cannot  see,  and  to  perceive 
the  connection  between  facts  which  to  the  ignorant  person 
seem  to  have  no  connection. 

10.  The  farmer,  therefore,  should  have  a  good  educa- 
tion. For  no  one  is  more  highly  benefited  by  a  good 
education.  The  farmer  pursues  one  of  the  most  impor- 
tant occupations  in  the  world.  Almost  all  the  food  of 
civilized  man  is  produced  on  the  farm.  The  quantity 
and  excellence  of  the  food  thus  produced  depend  upon 
the  skill  and  intelligence  with  which  the  farm  is  managed. 
Nothing  can  be  done  so  well  by  an  ignorant  and  careless 
person,  as  by  a  person  of  intelligence  and  knowledge, 
and  there  is  no  place  where  knowledge  is  more  impor- 
tant than  it  is  on  a  farm. 

11.  Of  the  value  of  exact  knowledge  to  a  farmer  there 
is  abundant  evidence.  Such  progress  has  been  made, 
within  a  few  years  past,  in  the  various  arts  which  belong 
to  agriculture,  that  the  produce  from  the  farms  in  many 
parts  of  Europe,  particularly  of  England,  is  twice  as 
great,  on  the  same  land,  and  with  the  same  amount  of 


4  INTRODUCTION. 

labor,  as  it  was  thirty  years  ago.  Now,  the  improvements 
which  have  been  made  on  EngHsh  farms  may  be  made  on 
American  farms,  by  the  use  of  the  same  means. 

12.  Those  means  are  the  appHcation  of  science  to  the 
treatment  of  soils,  manures,  modes  of  tillage,  and  man- 
agement of  animals ;  and  improvements  in  the  various 
tools  and  machines  used  in  the  work  of  farming.  And 
no  person  can  wisely  make  this  application,  and  avail 
himself  fully  of  these  improvements,  who  is  not  well 
educated. 

13.  Besides,  we  have  evidence  nearer  home  of  the 
value  of  knowledge  to  a  farmer.  The  farms  in  New 
England,  which  have  been  conducted  with  intelligence, 
knowledge,  forethought  and  economy,  have,  in  many 
instances,  made,  out  of  poor  men,  men  well  to  do  in 
the  world,  and  rich  enough  to  command  all  the  comforts 
and  enjoyments  of  life.  Many  of  the  towns  in  Massa- 
chusetts which  have  been  always  wholly  devoted  to  agri- 
culture, are  among  the  most  thriving  towns  in  the  State. 

14.  But,  the  question  will  be  asked,  suppose  a  farmer 
to  be  well  educated ;  will  he  have  time  to  keep  up  his 
knowledge  ? 

If  a  farmer  have  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  a  good 
education  in  his  early  years,  he  will  have  more  time  and 
stronger  inducements  to  keep  up  and  add  to  his  knowl- 
edge, than  almost  any  one  else.  One  peculiar  advantage 
in  the  occupation  of  a  farmer  is  that,  while  it  gives  full 
exercise  to  the  powers  of  the  body,  it  leaves  time,  at 
least  in  this  country,  for  a  very  full  exercise  of  the 
powers  of  the  mind.  Every  operation  on  the  farm  calls 
into  use  the  farmer's  knoAvledge  and  intelligence  ;  and 
the  long  evenings  of  one  half  of  the  year  give  him 
ample   time  for   reading   and   thought.     Watching   the 


SCIENCE. — USE   OF   EDUCATION.  '5 

nature  and  action  of  scientific  principles  will  give  a  new 
interest  and  pleasure  to  every  operation  in  which  the 
farmer  engages ;  and  his  success  in  their  application  will 
furnish  a  strong  motive  for  new  acquisitions. 

15.  There  is  no  doubt  that  men  of  science  are  liable 
to  make  mistakes,  partly  because  their  science  is  not 
thorough  enough,  and  partly  because  very  much  of  what 
is  most  important  can  be  learned  only  by  one's  own 
observation.  It  is  the  union  of  science  and  practice 
which  alone  can  make  a  perfect  farmer. 

16.  It  is  often  supposed  that  the  scientific  principles 
necessary  for  intelligent  farming  are  difficult  to  be  under- 
stood. But  this  is  very  far  from  being  the  case.  What 
chemistry  teaches  about  air,  water,  arable  soil,  the  nature 
of  plants,  manure,  and  what  it  is  made  of,  is  so  easy  to 
be  understood,  that  every  well-informed  teacher  may,  in 
a  dozen  lessons,  and  with  the  simplest  means  of  instruc- 
tion, impart  to  the  commonest  farmer's  boy  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  it. 

17.  The  learning  these  things  will  make  the  difference 
between  ignorance  and  knowledge,  between  seeming  stu- 
pidity and  real  brightness.  It  will  be  a  great  benefit  to  the 
individual  and  to  the  country.  The  boy  w^ho  has  been 
taught  in  school  on  what  the  fertility  of  the  soil  depends, 
and  the  great  danger  of  the  land's  being  worn  out  in 
consequence  of  wasting  the  most  valuable  kinds  of  manure, 
and  who  has  been  told  by  his  teacher  that  he  who  wastes 
the  conditions  of  fertility  is  guilty  of  an  offence  against 
the  poor,  against  himself,  and  against  society,  will  cer- 
tainly, when  he  grows  to  man's  estate,  see  how  important 
it  is  that  nothing  essential  to  fertility  shall  be  lost,  and 
will  take  the  greatest  pains  to  save  and  to  use  every  thing 
which  is  thus  valuable.  ... 


b  THE   AIR   AND   THE   GASES    IN   IT. 

18.  Wliat  is  chemistry  ?  It  is  the  science  which  tells 
us  what  water,  air,  soil,  and  all  other  things  are,  what 
they  are  made  of,  and  how  the  elements  of  which  they 
are  made  act  upon  each  other ;  and  a  person  who  studies 
these  things,  and  makes  experiments  upon  them,  is  called 
a  chemist. 


CHAPTER    II. 

THE   AIR   AND   THE   GASES   IN   IT. 

19.  The  Air  is  that  which  we  breathe,  and  by  which 
we  are  constantly  surrounded.  It  is  very  thin  and  light, 
and  yet  it  has  some  little  weight.  We  cannot  see  it,  and 
yet  it  is  always  about  us  and  touching  us.  The  wind  is 
air  in  motion.  We  feel  the  wind,  and  we  may  feel  the 
still  air  when  we  move  our  hand  rapidly  in  it ;  and  we 
also  feel  and  hear  it  when  we  move  a  stick  swiftly 
through  it. 

If  I  fill  a  bladder  with  air,  and  press  it,  the  bladder 
yields  ;  but  as  soon  as  the  pressure  is  withdrawn,  it  swells 
out  again  to  its  former  size.  This  is  because  the  air  is 
springy  or  clastic.  It  is  essential  to  burning,  or  com- 
bustion.  Without  air,  the  candle  would  be  extinguished, 
and  the  fire  would  go  out.  It  is  not  less  necessary  to  the 
life  of  man  and  other  animals,  and  to  plants. 

20.  The  air  is  composed  of  a  thin  fluid  or  gas,  called 
oxygen^  (which  means,  producer  of  acids,)  mixed  with 
another  air  or  gas  called  nitrogen,  (producer  of  nitre,) 
or  azote,  (not  sustaining  life.)  The  air  also  contains  a 
gas  called  carbonic  acid,  a  small  but  variable  quantity  of 


OXYGEN    FOUND    EVERYWHERE.  7 

watery  vapor ^  and  commonly  has  floating  in  it  smoke  and 
dust,  and  minute  portions  of  various  gases  which  serve  as 
food  to  plants,  the  most  important  of  which  are  ammonia 
and  sulphur. 

21.  Oxygen  is  the  vital  part  of  the  air — that  which 
is  essential  to  our  life,  and  also  to  combustion.  It  is 
invisible,  and  has  no  taste  or  smell.  Oxygen  is  thought 
to  be  a  simple  substance;  that  is,  no  person  has  ever 
succeeded  in  showing  that  it  is  a  mixture  or  compound 
of  any  two  substances.  It  is  therefore  called  an  Element, 
or  elementary  substance. 

It  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  and  widely  diffused 
substances  known.  It  forms  eight  parts  out  of  nine,  by 
weight,  in  the  composition  of  water.  It  enters  into  the 
composition  of  nearly  all  the  rocks  and  different  kinds  of 
earth,  and  is  one  of  the  constituents  of  all  portions  of  the 
bodies  of  plants  and  animals. 

22.  A  considerable  portion  of  every  known  rock  is 
oxygen,  combined  with  some  other  element.  How  it  got 
into  the  rocks  we  do  not  know.  Oxygen  has  a  strong 
tendency  to  penetrate  into  every  thing ;  it  has  a  great 
attraction  for  iron,  copper,  lead,  and  most  of  the  other 
metals,  and  for  nearly  all  the  other  substances  of  which 
earths  are  composed,  and  combines  with  them  intimately, 
and  completely  changes  their  appearance  and  properties. 
Iron  left  for  any  time  in  moist  air  rusts,  or  is  gradually 
covered  with  a  dirty  reddish  substance,  which  we  call 
rust,  which  is  made  up  of  oxygen  and  particles  of  the 
iron  with  which  it  has  united.  TJiis  the  chemists  call 
oxide  of  iron.   ■  The  iron  has  been  oxidized. 

This  oxide  of  iron  is  often  found  in  the  earth  in  great 
quantities,  forming  a  brownish,  heavy  dirt  or  earth  ;  some- 
times beautiful  rocks  or  ores.     Similar  earths  or  minerals 

2 


8  THE   AIK   AND   THE   GASES   IN   IT. 

are  formed  by  oxygen  uniting  Avith  other  metals.     These 
compounds  are  called  oxides. 

23.  Oxygen  was  called  a  producer  of  acids,  because  it 
is  an  element  of  many  of  the  most  powerful  acids ;  and 
the  name  add  is  given  to  several  substances  which  are 
extremely  sour  and  very  corrosive,  and  produce  the  effect 
of  turning  vegetable  blue  colors  red. 

24.  Oxygen,  for  instance,  unites  with  sulphur,  or  brim- 
stone, in  two  proportions.  If  there  be  sixteen  parts  by 
weight  of  sulphur  to  sixteen  of  oxygen,  sidphuroiis  acid 
is  formed ;  sixteen  of  sulphur  to  twenty-four  of  oxygen 
form  sulphuric  acid,  commonly  called  oil  of  vitriol,  when 
combined  with  water. 

25.  Eight  parts  out  of  nine  in  the  composition  of  water 
are  oxygen  ;  the  other  part  is  hydrogen. 

26.  Hydrogen  (water  producer)  is  an  invisible  air  or 
gas,  elastic,  and  without  color,  taste,  or  smell,  and  lighter 
than  any  other  substance  known.  One  hundred  cubic 
inches  of  hydrogen  weigh  ^^^^  grains. 

27.  Oxygen,  which  is  a  little  heavier  than  common  air, 
is  sixteen  times  heavier  than  hydrogen. 

28.  And  common  air  is  about  816  times  lighter  than 
pure  water. 

29.  Nitrogen  is  a  gas  which  alone  does  not  sustain 
combustion,  nor  the  breathing  or  respiration  of  animals, 
A  burning  candle  placed  in  a  vessel  full  of  it  goes  imme- 
diately out.  An  animal  placed  in  it  immediately  dies. 
It  is  not  supposed  to  be  poisonous,  but  merely  inert.  It 
serves  to  temper  the  violent  action  of  oxygen,  w^hich, 
without  it,  might  consume  the  lungs  which  should  breathe 
it.  It  enters  as  an  essential  element  into  the  structure 
of  animals  and  plants.  It  has  neither  color,  taste,  nor 
smell. 


NITROGEN,    LAW   OF    DEFINITE    PROPORTIONS.  9 

30.  But  it  is  only  when  alone,  or  when  merely  mixed 
with  oxygen,  as  in  common  air,  that  it  is  so  inert.  In 
combination  it  always  plays  an  active  part.  All  sub- 
stances containing  it  have  a  tendency  to  be  decomposed. 
Chemically,  that  is,  intimately  united  with  oxygen,  it 
forms  one  of  the  most  violent  agents  known. 

31.  Oxygen  combines  with  nitrogen  in  five  different, 
perfectly  definite  proportions,  by  weight,  viz. : 

Protoxide  (first  oxide)  of  nitrogen  is  14  parts  of  nitrogen  Avith  8  of  oxygen. 
Deutoxide  (second  oxide)       "  14      "  "  "  16  " 

Tritoxide  (third  oxide)  "  14      '•  "  "  24  " 

Peroxide   (highest  oxide)      "  14      "  "  "  32  " 

Nitric  acid,  aquafortis,  is  14      "  "  "  40  " 

It  seems  a  very  surprising  and  wonderful  thing  that 
these  two  gases  should  always  unite  in  such  exact  pro- 
portions ;  that  14  parts  by  weight  of  nitrogen  should 
always  unite  with  exactly  8,  or  twice  8,  or  three  or  four 
times  or  five  times  8  parts  of  oxygen.  Yet  this  is  always 
the  case.  And  not  only  do  nitrogen  and  oxygen  unite  in 
this  exact  manner,  by  this  precise  law,  but  all  the  other 
elements  unite  with  each  other  in  perfectly  definite,  inva- 
riable proportions.  How  this  happens  no  one  knows. 
All  we  can  say  is,  that  the  Creator  has  made  things  in 
this  manner,  so  as  to  unite  according  to  this  law^  And 
this  is  called  the  Law  of  Definite  Proportions.  For  when 
things  always  happen  exactly  in  one  way,  we  say  that 
they  happen  according'  to  a  laiv  of  nature.  It  is  incon- 
ceivable that  they  should  always  come  so  by  accident. 

This  laAV  is  universal.  Oxygen  always  unites  in  the 
proportion,  by  w^eight,  of  16,  or  some  multiple  of  16.  Ni- 
trogen always  in  the  proportion  of  14  ;  and  every  other 
element  has  its  definite  combinino-  number.     The  com- 


10  THE    AIR    AND    THE   GASES    IN    IT. 

billing  number  for  hydrogen  is  1 ;  for  carbon,  12 ;  for 
sulphur,  32  ;  for  iron,  56. 

And  it  is  found  that  9  pounds  of  water  consist  of  8 
pounds  of  oxygen  and  1  pound  of  hydrogen ;  and  that 
28  pounds  of  iron  unite  with  8  pounds  of  oxygen  to  form 
rust  or  oxide  of  iron.  "  Take,  for  example,  9  pounds  of 
water,  pass  its  steam  over  a  known  weight  of  pure  iron 
turnings,  heated  red-hot  in  an  earthen  tiibe.  No  steam 
escapes  from  the  tube,  only  air,  which  may  be  inflamed 
and  burned.  It  is  hydrogen  gas,  one  of  the  constituents 
of  water.  That  liquid  has  been  decomposed.  What  has 
become  of  its  oxygen  ?  It  has  united  with  and  oxidated 
the  iron.  What  proportion  of  the  water  did  it  form? 
8-9ths."  If  the  iron  be  weighed,  it  will  be  found  8  pounds 
heavier.  Subtracting  from  the  9  pounds  of  water,  8  of 
oxygen,  the  balance,  1,  is  hydrogen.* 

If  the  experiment  be  very  carefully  conducted,  it  will 
be  found  that  28  pounds  of  iron  have  been  converted  into 
iron  rust,  and  that  all  the  rust  formed  by  8  pounds  of 
oxygen  weighs  36  pounds. 

The  several  elements,  or  simple,  uncompounded  sub- 
stances, are,  for  convenience,  represented  by  the  initial 
letters,  and  the  proportions  in  which  they  unite  by  num- 
bers placed  a  little  above  them.  Chemists  suppose  that 
it  is  only  the  least  possible,  indivisible  particles  of  matter 
or  atoms,  that  unite,  and  that  the  atoms  combine,  1  with 
1,  or  1  with  2,  or  with  3,  or  2  with  3,  and  so  on. 

Oxygen  is  represented  by  0 ;  Hydrogen  by  H ;  Nitro- 
gen by  N  ;  Carbon  by  C  ;  Sulphur  by  S.  H^  0  is  water, 
because    one   atom,  of  hydrogen   is   supposed   to   unite 

See  Reports  of  the  Massachusetts  State  Board  of  Agriculture,  for  the  past 
ten  years,  Avhere  the  subject  of  fertilizers  is  thoroughly  treated. 


NITRIC  ACID,   CAIIBONIC  ACID.  11 

with  one  of  oxygen.  N  H^  or  Am  is  ammonia, — three 
atoms  of  H  and  one  atom  of  N.  Carbonic  acid  is  C  O^, 
that  is,  one  atom  of  carbon  with  two  of  oxygen.  N  O 
is  protoxide  of  nitrogen,  one  atom  of  each  element ;  N-  O, 
NO,  N'^0%  NO^  N-  0%  represent  the  successive  oxides 
of  Art.  31,  and  nitric  acid  results  from  the  union  of 
N^O^  and  w^ater  {W  O),  forming  two  molecules  of  acid  ; 
and  if  each  atom  of  nitrogen  weighs  14,  each  atom  of 
oxygen  must  weigh  16,  on  the  same  scale. 

32.  Nitric  Acid,  like  sulphuric  acid,  is  so  excessively  cor- 
rosive as  speedily  to  destroy  almost  any  substance  exposed 
to  its  action.     It  is  a  liquid,  looking  somewhat  like  water. 

A  flash  of  lightning,  in  the  air,  often  causes  oxygen 
and  nitrogen  to  combine,  forming  nitric  acid,  which  is 
immediately  dissolved  by  the  rain,  and  is  sometimes 
found  in  rain  water. 

33.  Carbonic  Acid  is  the  gas  which  rises,  in  the  form 
of  bubbles,  in  the  fermentation  of  beer,  or  when  you  open 
a  bottle  of  beer,  or  in  the  effervescence  of  cider  or  of 
wine.  The  oxide  of  carbon  kills  a  person  who  remains  too 
long  in  a  close  room  where  there  is  a  pan  of  burning 
coals.  It  is  formed  by  the  combination  of  oxygen  with 
carbon  or  charcoal. 

34.  All  kinds  of  wood  and  other  vegetable  substances 
are  made  up  mostly  of  carbon  or  charcoal,  united  with 
water,  or  with  oxygen  and  hydrogen,  in  nearly  the  same 
proportions  in  which  they  form  water.  When  wood  is 
kindled,  it  unites  with  the  oxygen  of  the  air.  Burning 
or  combustion  is  the  uniting  of  a  combustible  substance 
with  oxygen,  accompanied  with  light  and  heat. 

35.  The  blaze  or  Flame  is  formed  by  the  uniting  of 
oxygen  with  a  combustible  gas. 

2* 


12  THE   AIR   AND   THE   GASES   IN   IT. 

36.  Now  Light  and  Heat  both  come  from  the  wood 
as  it  burns.  While  a  tree  is  growing,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  sunshine,  heat  is  stored  up,  and  remains  latent 
in  the  wood.  There  it  lies,  as  in  a  storehouse,  till  it  is 
brought  out  by  burning. 

37.  Ammonia.  Hydrogen  combines  with  nitrogen  to 
form  ammonia^  whicli  is  one  of  the  essential  articles  in 
the  food  of  plants. 

38.  Wherever  decay  or  decomposition  of  any  animal 
substance,  or  almost  any  vegetable  substance,  takes  place, 
there  both  these  gases,  hydrogen  and  nitrogen^  are  given 
out,  and,  at  the  very  moment  they  leave  the  other  sub- 
stances with  whicli  they  have  been  combined,  they  unite 
and  form  ammonia,  which  rises  and  floats  in  the  air, 
and  is  dissolved  rapidly  by  the  moisture  in  the  air,  and 
is  then  brought  down  to  the  earth  in  the  rain. 

39.  The  little  delicate  roots  absorb  it  from  the  earth, 
and  it  is  carried  into  every  part  of  the  plant.  Some 
power  in  the  plant  separates  the  two  again,  for  both  are 
always  found  in  the  growing  parts ;  and  nitrogen  and 
hydrogen  are  found  in  the  seeds. 

40.  Hydrogen  unites  also  with  sulphur^  and  forms  a 
very  offensive  gas,  called  sulphuretted  hydrogen ;  and 
this,  like  all  sulphides,  is  poisonous  to  plant  life. 

41.  In  100  pints  of  common  air,  perfectly  dry  and 
pure,  there  are  about  21  of  oxygen  and  79  of  nitrogen ; 
that  is,  not  far  from  one-fifth  of  oxygen  and  four-fifths 
of  nitrogen.  In  its  common  state,  100  pints  of  air  con- 
tain from  1  to  24-  pints  of  watery  vapor;  and  1,500 
pints  contain  f^  pint  of  carbonic  acid. 

42.  In  breathing,  the  air  enters  into  the  lungs,  and 
wherever  oxygen  comes  in  contact  with  a  portion  of  the 


PURE    AIR   NECESSARY   TO    HEALTH.  13 

blood,  it  combines  with  it,  much  as  oxygen  combines 
with  fuel  in  burning,  and  by  this  combustion  sustains  the 
animal  heat,  and  keeps  the  body  warm.  When  the  air 
in  the  lungs  is  breathed  out,  it  contains  less  oxygen  than 
the  air  which  had  entered.  In  place  of  this  oxygen 
which  has  staid  in  the  body,  a  portion  of  carbonic  acid  is 
breathed  out,  which  poisons,  to  a  certain  extent,  the 
surrounding  air.  In  this  way  the  purity  of  the  air  would 
soon  be  destroyed,  and  it  would  be  rendered  unfit  for 
breathing,  if  pure  air  were  not  brought  in. 

The  quantity  of  air  thus  rendered  unfit  for  respiration 
is  known,  and  we  can  calculate  exactly  the  space  and  the 
number  of  cubic  feet  of  air  which  ought  to  be  provided 
in  chambers  for  men,  and  in  stables  and  other  places  for 
other  animals,  according  to  the  number  and  size  of  the 
animals  to  be  shut  up  in  them. 

A  Man  needs  from  200  to  350  cubic  feet  of  pure  air 
every  hour.  Supposing  a  person  to  require  only  250  feet 
an  hour,  a  close  room  of  10  feet  in  each  dimension, 
having  its  air  rendered  more  and  more  impure  by  his 
breathing  it,  will,  in  four  hours,  be  foul  and  very  unwhole- 
some, and  wholly  unfit  to  breathe. 

43.  It  is  thus  plain  that  every  place  occupied  by  a 
living  being,  particularly  by  night,  ought  to  be  ventilated. 
That  is,  it  ought  to  have  a  communication,  by  means  of 
a  chimney  flue,  or  in  some  other  way,  with  the  pure, 
open  air.  Neither  the  body  nor  the  mind  of  a  person 
who  has  to  breathe,  night  after  night,  the  close,  foul  air 
of  an  ill-ventilated  room,  can  remain  healthy. 

44.  Plants  do  not  breathe  as  animals  do.  But  air  is 
just  as  essential  to  them,  penetrating  freely  into  the 
tissues  of  their  green  portions,  and  there  playing  a  part 


14  THE   AIR   AND   THE   GASES   IN   IT. 

necessary  to  their  existence,  although  quite  unlike  animal 
respiration. 

45.  By  daylight,  and  especially  in  the  sunshine,  plants 
absorb  carbonic  acid,  turn  the  carbon,  and  water,  or  the 
elements  of  water,  into  the  substance  of  the  wood,  stem, 
leaves  and  the  other  solid  parts,  and  throw  back  part 
of  the  oxygen  into  the  air.  Growing  plants  are  thus 
continually  acting  to  purify  the  atmosphere,  by  taking 
up  the  carbonic  acid  which  is  poured  into  it  by  com- 
bustion, by  decay,  and  by  the  breath  of  animals,  and 
giving  back  oxygen  suitable  for  healthy  respiration. 

We  thus  see  the  wise  and  beautiful  Relation  which  has 
been  established  between  animals  and  plants.  The  wind 
which  blows  from  the  habitations  of  men  and  animals 
carries  foul  air,  no  longer  fit  to  be  breathed,  away  to  the 
woods  and  fields.  There  the  plants  extract  from  the  air 
all  that  is  poisonous  ;  and  the  wind  which  blows  from  the 
field  and  forest  brings  back  only  the  pure  and  vital 
element  of  oxygen,  mixed  with  harmless  nitrogen. 

46.  In  the  night  time  plants  do  not  exercise  this  benefi- 
cent influence.  On  the  contrary,  they  then  exhale  carbonic 
acid,  at  least  in  small  quantities.  It  is  this,  perhaps, 
which  renders  it  unsafe  to  have  plants,  especially  when 
in  flower,  in  a  sleeping  room. 

It  would  seem  that  wood  or  woody  fibre  is  not  formed 
during  the  night,  but  that  the  presence  of  the  sun's  light 
is  essentially  necessary  to  this  action  of  the  life  of  a  plant. 

47.  The  oxides  of  the  metals,  and  some  other  com- 
pounds, are  bases ;  .that  is,  they  unite  chemically  with 
carbonic  acid,  sulphuric  acid,  nitric  acid,  and  other  acids, 
and  form  salts,  called  carbonates,  sulphates,  nitrates,  and 
other  ates. 


SALTS,    HUMUS,    DECAY.  16 

They  have  been  named  Salts,  from  their  resemblance 
to  common  table  salt,  though  their  properties  are  usually 
very  different. 

48.  Carbonic  acid,  for  example,  intimately  combined 
with  lime,  forms  a  salt  called  carbonate  of  lime,  which 
is  chalk  or  limestone.  Sulplmric  acid,  combined  with 
lime,  forms  sulphate  of  lime,  or  plaster  of  Paris.  Nitric 
acid,  chemically  combined  with  potash,  forms  nitrate  of 
potash,  or  saltpetre.  All  these  are  salts  of  great  impor- 
tance in  agriculture. 

49.  Oxygen  is  also  continually  combining  Avith  wood 
and  other  vegetable  suljstances.  The  decay  of  the  fallen 
leaves  is  produced  by  oxygen  slowly  combining  with  the 
carbon  of  the  leaves.  Moisture  and  warmth  are  favorable 
to  this  combination,  or  oxidation,  and  heat  is  always  pro- 
duced by  it.  A  heap  of  leaves,  decaying,  grows  warm 
and  continues  warm  till  they  are  all  turned  into  leaf 
mould,  known  as  humus.  So  the  very  gradual  decay 
of  trunks  of  old  dead  trees,  and  of  every  thing  made  of 
wood,  is  principally  owing  to  the  combination  of  oxygen 
with  the  carbon  in  the  wood. 

Nearly  all  decay  is  produced  by  oxygen.  It  is  oxida- 
tion. During  the  process  of  decay  of  vegetable  substances, 
not  only  carbonic  acid,  but,  previously,  humic  acid,  (from 
humus,  earth,)  and  ulmic  acid,  (from  ubnus,  an  elm,) 
are  formed.  Both  these  are  made  of  carbon,  hydrogen 
and  oxygen,  and  both  are  elements  of  the  food  of  plants. 

50.  Humus,  or  gcine,  in  all  its  states,  is  a  compound 
of  carbon,  with  the  elements  of  water,  oxygen  and  hydro- 
gen. When  decay  has  just  begun,  the  decaying  substance 
is  called  2//m?2;  with  a  little  more  oxygen,  it  becomes 
ulmic  acid.  In  both  these,  there  is  more  hydrogen  than 
is  necessary  to  form,  with  the  oxygen,  water. 


16  THE    ATMOSPHERE. 

51.  With  the  addition  of  more  oxygen,  just  enough  to 
form  water,  humin  and  then  humic  acid  are  formed.  By 
the  addition  of  still  more  oxygen,  the  Iramus  is  turned, 
successively,  into  geic  acid,  crenic  acid,  (krene,  a  foun- 
tain,) and  apocrenic  acid.  Several  of  these  are  often 
found,  at  once,  in  a  mass  of  humus. 

52.  If  nitrogen  be  present  in  a  moist,  decaying  mass 
of  substance,  it  unites  with  its  hydrogen,  and  forms 
ammonia ;  and  a  part  of  the  ammonia,  acted  upon  hj 
oxygen  in  the  presence  of  mineral  matter,  is  gradually 
turned  into  nitric  acid. 


CHAPTEE    III. 

THE  ATMOSPHERE  AND  THE  FORCES  ACTING  IN  IT. 

53.  The  air  forms  about  the  earth  a  coat  which  we 
call  the  Atmosphere  (vapor-ball) ,  and  which  extends  up- 
wards forty  or  fifty,  and  some  think  many  more,  miles 
from  the  surface  of  the  earth. 

54.  The  atmosphere  is  the  great  ocean  in  which  all 
animal  and  vegetable  lives  exist,  and  all  the  influences 
and  agencies  which  act  upon  them  are  at  play.  Among 
these  are  light,  by  which  all  visible  things  are  made 
known  to  us ;  heat,  which  pervades,  and  expands,  and 
moves  all  tilings,  and  is  essential  to  the  life  both  of  animals 
and  of  plants ;  moisture,  alike  essential,  and  by  which 
nearly  all  things  are  softened  or  mollified;  scnmd,^\ih.- 
out  which  the  earth  would  be  a  silent  desert,  and  voice 
and  music  and  the  pleasure  of  social  life  could  not 
exist ;  and  the  wonderful  cause  of  thunder  and  lightning, 
which  we  call  electricity.         , 


FORCES    AT   WORK   IN   THE    ATMOSPHERE.  17 

55.  In  the  atmosphere,  great  operations  are  going  on  ; 
all  things  are  perpetually  mingling,  or  trying  to  mingle. 
The  winds  are  blowing,  in  vast  circuits,  from  zone  to 
zone,  bearing  heat  from  the  equator  and  cold  from  the 
poles,  moistiire  from  oceans,  lakes,  and  streams,  and  dry- 
ness from  the  mountains  and  plains,  and  scattering  dust 
and  the  seeds  of  plants  and  the  eggs  of  minute  animals. 

Into  the  atmosphere  are  continually  rising  vapors  and 
exhalations  from  all  moist  and  all  decaying  substances ; 
poisonous  gases  from  the  breath  of  man  and  other  ani- 
mals, and  from  burning  volcanoes  and  the  fires  which 
are  kindled  by  accident,  or  for  the  uses  of  man.  All 
these  are  constantly  strivhig  to  diffuse  themselves,  and  to 
penetrate  and  mingle  with  each  other  and  with  parts  of 
the  solid  earth. 

bQ.  The  sun  is  continually  darting  his  rays  of  light 
and  of  heat  in  every  direction,  illuminating  and  warming 
every  thing  within  the  sphere  of  their  influence.  Every 
star,  every  fire,  every  candle  is  doing  the  same.  Oxygen 
is  always  tending,  with  ceaseless  effort,  to  enter  into  and 
combine  with  other  things.  Every  other  gas  and  vapor 
is,  by  its  nature,  diffusing  itself  in  like  manner.  Water 
moistens,  that  is,  enters  into,  every  thing  with  which  it 
can  come  in  contact — the  air,  and  all  things  in  it,  the 
earth,  and  the  solid  rocks. 

57.  And  this  it  does  by  that  force  by  which  particles 
near  each  other  are  drawn  nearer.  It  is  this  force  which 
makes  the  particles  of  water  rise  upwards  from  the  ground 
into  a  heap  of  ashes  or  fine  sand,  and  penetrate  among 
the  fibres  or  grain  of  wood.  It  is  this  which  draws  water 
up  into  a  tube  of  glass  with  a  bore  as  fine  as  a  hair, 
whence  it  is  called  Capillary  Attraction,  (from  capillus, 
Latm,  a  hair.) 


18  THE   ATMOSPHERE. 

58.  Another  cause  of  the  penetration  of  water  is  the  force 
which  draws  fluids  of  different  densities  tlirough  a  par- 
tition of  thin  skin  or  fihn  placed  between  them,  and 
makes  them  mix.     This  is  called  capillary  attraction. 

We  can  easily  conceive  how  this  action  takes  place. 
Water  spreads  itself  continually,  and  enters  into  what- 
ever is  in  contact  with  it  more  readily  than  any  other 
fluid.  Thus  it  moistens  and  gets  through  a  film  more 
rapidly  than  the  fluid  on  the  other  side,  which  also 
penetrates,  but  less  readily.  Both  of  them  continue  to 
move  on,  but  the  water  always  more  rapidly. 

59.  Oxygen  combines  with  the  particles  of  metals  and 
turns  them  into  rusts  or  oxides ;  and,  aided  by  moisture 
and  warmth,  it  unites  with  the  elements  of  wood  and  all 
other  things  made  of  carbon  and  hydrogen,  and  causes 
them  to  decay. 

60.  Do  not  the  heavy  gases,  like  carbonic  acid,  sink 
to  the  bottom  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the  light  ones,  like 
hydrogen  and  carburetted  hydrogen,  rise  to  the  top? 

No.  Each  gas  spreads  or  diffuses  itself  throughout 
all  the  atmosphere.  Therefore  carbonic  acid  is  found  at 
the  top  of  a  mountain  as  in  the  bottom  of  a  valley.  If  a 
plant  has  an  attraction  for  ammonia,  it  draws  to  itself 
the  ammonia  near  it,  and  combines  with  it ;  but  the 
ammonia  at  a  distance  rushes  in,  comes  near,  and  is 
attracted  and  combined  also,  and  streams  of  it  keep 
coming  in  from  all  quarters. 

61.  Heat,  too,  spreads  itself,  unceasingly,  in  every 
direction,  and  that  in  two  ways.  If  it  spreads  from  par- 
ticle to  particle,  as  it  does  in  a  piece  of  iron,  or  any  other 
solid,  or  as  it  does  in  the  earth,  it  is  said  to  be  conducted, 
or  to  spread  by  conduction.  If  it  darts  out,  as  it  does,  in 
straight  lines,  from  all  things  surrounded  by  air  or  open 


RADIATION. GRAVITATION.  19 

space,  it  is  said  to  spread  by  radiation.  As  it  spreads,  it 
expands  every  thing ;  and  as  the  temperature  is  every 
where  continually  changing,  from  winter  to  summer, 
from  day  to  night,  and  every  hour  of  the  day  and  night, 
all  solids  must  be  constantly  expanding  and  contracting, 
and  the  particles  of  which  they  are  composed  must  be 
continually  approaching  to  and  receding  from  each 
other. 

In  liquids,  the  particles  that  are  warmed  expand  and 
rise,  while  those  that  are  cooled  contract  and  sink,  thus 
producing  currents  upwards  and  downwards  in  the  liquid. 
Particles  of  other  substances,  floating  or  suspended  in 
the  liquid,  as  they  become  warmer,  rise  towards  the 
surface,  and,  as  they  cool  again,  sink  towards  the  bottom; 
or,  if  one  side  of  a  particle  expands  more  rapidly  than 
another,  it  turns  over,  seeming  as  if  it  had  life  and  volun- 
tary motion. 

The  vapors  ^wdi  gases,  expanded  by  heat,  become  lighter, 
rise  upwards  towards  the  surface  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
their  place  is  taken  by  cooler  ones  from  every  side. 

62.  Why  does  not  this  perpetual  strife  of  forces  produce 
disorder  and  chaos  ? 

These  forces  are  not  lawless  forces.  They  all  have 
their  limits  within  which  they  are  compelled  to  abide. 
Besides,  there  are  other  mighty  forces  always  acting 
against  them,  and  constraining  them  to  keep  within  their 
bounds. 

63.  One  of  these  forces  is  the  Attraction  of  Gravitation, 
which  makes  a  stone  fall  to  the  ground,  and  draws  every 
particle,  every  atom,  towards  every  other,  and  all  towards 
the  centre  of  the  earth,  and  the  earth  itself  towards  the 
sun.  This  gives  them  all  their  weight,  and  brings  them 
to  rest,  and  keeps  them  in  their  places. 

3 


20  THE   ATMOSPHERE    AND   THE    FORCES   IN   IT. 

Another  is  the  force  which  binds  the  particles  of  a  stone 
or  of  any  other  thing  together,  and  makes  it  hard  or  strong 
or  tough,  wliich  force  we  call  the  Attraction  of  Cohesion. 
Another  is  the  force  by  which  different  things  stick  to 
each  other,  as  mortar  to  a  brick,  or  glue  to  wood,  which 
we  call  the  Force  of  Adhesion.  And  there  are  doubtless 
other  forces  which  we  do  not  so  well  understand. 

64.  One  of  these  unknown  forces  is  the  Force  of  Vegeta- 
ble Life,  which  draws  into  a  growing  plant  the  several 
substances  which  are  necessary  to  its  growth,  and  out  of 
them  forms  all  the  parts  of  the  plant.  Another  is  the 
Force  of  Aniijial  Life,  which  turns  its  food  into  the  flesh 
and  bones  and  other  parts  of  the  animal. 

A  third  is  the  Power  which  the  Light  of  the  Sun  exerts 
upon  all  vegetables  and  animals,  upon  all  colors,  perhaps 
upon  all  things  within  its  reach. 

A  fourth  is  the  power  by  which  electricity  draws  light 
bodies,  and  perhaps  heavy  ones,  towards  an  electrified 
surface,  and  again  repels  tliem. 

Qfb.  It  is  from  the  influence  of  the  sunlight  that  the 
carbonic  acid  and  water  in  the  sap  of  growing  plants  are 
turned  into  the  substance  called  woody  fibre,  which  gives 
them  their  structure  and  strength.  A  woody  plant, 
growing  in  the  dark,  lengthens,  but  forms  a  soft  wood, 
and  £0  has  no  hardness. 

It  is  the  influence  of  this  liglit  which  causes  the  evapo- 
ration at  the  surface  of  the  leaves,  which  thickens  the 
juices,  and  changes  them  into  nourishing  sap.  Without 
the  sunlight,  the  peculiar  odors  and  tastes  are  not  formed, 
nor  all  the  beautiful  variety  of  colors. 

^%.  That  the  light  of  the  sun  lias  this  great  power 
over  plants,  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  most  of  those  plants 
which  naturally  grow  in  places  where  the  sunshine  daily 


EFFECT   OF    LIGHT    ON    PLANTS    AND    ANLAIALS.  21 

comes,  refuse  to  grow  in  the  shade.  Or,  if  one  grows  in 
the  shade,  it  has  none  of  the  sensible  properties,  neither 
the  strength,  nor  hardness,  nor  color,  nor  smell,  nor  taste, 
which  it  would  have  had  growing  in  the  sunshine. 

In  the  growth  of  a  tree,  the  stronger  and  fuller  the 
hght  to  which  it  is  exposed,  the  greater  the  amount  of 
carbon  which  is  formed  into  its  texture,  and  the  harder 
and  more  compact  its  wood. 

67.  A  single  experiment  shows  that  it  is  light  and  7iot 
air  which  gives  wood  its  strength  and  hardness.  Plant 
a  little  tree  in  a  dusky  room,  with  two  openings,  one 
admitting  light  but  no  air,  the  other  air  but  no  light, 
and  all  the  little  branches  ^vill  soon  turn  towards  the 
hght. 

68.  This  seems  to  be  because  on  the  side  of  a  branch 
towards  the  light,  ivoocl  is  formed,  the  growth  is  checked, 
and  the  branch  hardened  ;  on  the  other  side,  growth  con- 
tinues more  rapidly,  and  the  parts  lengthen,  and  thus 
bend  the  little  branch  over  towards  the  harder  side. 

During  very  warm,  moist  7iights^  plants  may  grow  in 
length  and  in  every  other  dimension.  In  the  sunlight 
only  do  they  form  wood.  Hence  it  is  that  in  seasons  of 
unusual  sunshine,  the  wood  in  a  tree  fully  exposed  to  the 
sun  is  formed  with  more  than  common  perfection,  as  is 
also  the  bark. 

69.  The  power  of  the  sun's  light  upon  animals  is  not 
less  striking.  The  animals, — beasts,  birds,  fishes  and 
insects, — of  the  torrid  zone,  where  light  is  intense,  have 
more  activity,  more  vivacity,  and  more  brilliant  colors 
than  animals  of  the  temperate  and  frozen  zones.  All 
animals  suffer  from  being  shut  up  away  from  the  light. 

70.  Human  Beings,  not  less  than  other  animals.  Suffer 
from  being  kept  away  from  Sunshine. 


22  THE    ATMOSPHERE    AND    THE    FORCES    IN   IT. 

A  child  properly  managed,  and  left  to  spend  a  good 
many  hours  every  day  in  sunshine,  has  more  color,  more 
strength,  more  activity,  more  health,  and  better  spirits, 
in  consequence.  A  child  kept  away  from  the  sunlight  is 
pale,  weak,  dull,  delicate,  and  sad,  and  is  liable,  when 
this  exclusion  from  the  sun's  light  is  long  continued,  to 
many  forms  of  fearful  disease. 

71.  The  sun,  and,  with  it,  the  air,  are  constantly  acting, 
with  great  power,  upon  the  soil. 

The  heat  of  the  sun  swells  or  expands  the  particles, 
and  thus  makes  room  for  the  entrance  of  the  air ;  and  the 
oxygen  of  the  air  and  the  other  gases  which  float  in  the 
air  combine  with  some  of  the  elements  of  the  soil,  and 
render  them  fit  to  aid  in  the  growth  of  plants.  Other 
beneficial  eifects  are  produced,  of  which  more  will  be 
said  hereafter.  All  these  are  increased  by  the  frequent 
stirring  of  the  soil. 

Hence  it  is  that  when  trees  are  to  be  planted,  it  is 
important  to  dig  the  holes  some  time  beforehand,  in  order 
that  the  fresh  earth  in  the  holes  may  be  acted  upon  by 
the  sun  and  the  air  as  long  as  possible. 

72.  The  atmosphere  produces  many  other  different 
effects  upon  animals,  upon  plants,  and  upon  the  soil, 
varying  with  the  direction  and  force  of  the  winds,  heat 
and  cold,  the  weight  and  the  moisture  of  the  air,  rains 
and  droughts,  dews,  clouds,  and  fogs,  mists  and  storms. 

73.  What  is  Electricity?  We  know  it  only  by  its 
effects.  If  we  rub  a  rod  of  amber,  or  sealing  wax,  with 
a  piece  of  woollen  cloth,  the  amber  or  wax  is  immediately 
excited,  and  draws  towards  itself,  or  attracts^  light  bodies, 
such  as  bits  of  thread,  or  of  elder-pith  hung  to  a  thread. 
The  cause  of  this  attraction  was  called  electricity^  from 


ELECTRICITY. — OPPOSITE    ELECTRICITIES.  23 

its  being  first  observed  in  excited  amber,  whicli  the  Greeks 
called  electron. 

A  rod  of  glass  may  be  excited  in  the  same  manner  by 
rubbing  Avith  silk.  But  in  this  case  the  electricity  is  of  a 
different  kind. 

74.  Take  a  smooth  piece  of  iron  or  brass,  or  any  other 
metal,  and  hang  it  up  by  silk  threads  so  that  it  shall  not 
touch  or  be  near  to  any  thing,  and  fasten,  to  it  several 
pith  balls  hung  to  the  end  of  cotton  threads.  Rub  the 
piece  of  metal  with  a  rod  of  excited  amber  or  sealing 
wax,  and,  immediately,  electricity  is  excited,  and  the  pith 
balls  are  repelled,  and  fly  from  each  otlier  and  from  the 
metal  as  far  as  they  can  go.  Bring  the  rod  of  amber  or 
wax  near  to  the  balls,  and  they  will  be  repelled  and  avoid 
it.  But  if  you  bring  a  rod  of  excited  glass  near  them, 
they  will  be  attracted,  and  will  fly  towards  it.  The  elec- 
tricity excited  in  the  glass  is  of  an  opposite  kind  to  that 
excited  in  the  amber,  and  the  opposite  electricities  attract 
each  other. 

75.  Touch  the  metal  with  a  finger,  and  the  little  balls 
immediately  fall  together  again.  The  electricity  is  dis- 
charged through  the  finger. 

76.  Something  similar  is  supposed  to  take  place  with 
vapor.  When  water  is  turned  into  vapor  by  the  sun's 
heat,  it  forms  little  hollow  bubbles  or  vesicles,  which 
repel  each  other  in  consequence  of  being  electrified  by 
evaporation.  Any  thing  which  draws  off  the  electricity 
of  a  cloud  of  such  vapor  causes  the  little  vesicles  to 
collapse,  and  rush  together,  and  form  drops  of  rain. 

3* 


24  THE    ATMOSPHERE. 


CHAPTER    lY. 

CHANGES  IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE. — INSTRUMENTS  TO  MEASURE 
THEM. — CLIMATE. 

77.  The  state  of  the  atmosphere  is  continually  changing, 
and  several  instruments  have  been  contrived  for  the  pur- 
pose of  measuring  its  changes,  and  of  showing  what  its 
state  is.     The  three  most  important  are, — 

(1.)  The  thermometer^  (heat-measurer,)  which  shows 
the  changes  in  the  heat  of  the  air ; 

(2.)  The  barometer^  (weight-measurer,)  which  shows 
the  changes  hi  the  weight  or  pressure  of  the  air ;  and, 

(3.)  The  hygrometer^  (moisture-measurer,)  which 
shows  tlie  changes  in  the  amount  of  moisture  in  the  air. 

78.  The  Thermometer  is  constructed  on  the  principle 
that  almost  every  substance  known  is  sAvelled  or  expanded 
by  being  heated,  and  contracted  by  becoming  cooler;  and 
that  the  expansion  is  in  proportion  to  the  degree  of  heat. 

79.  This  may  be  proved  by  various  experiments.  If  a 
hole  in  a  plate  of  iron  is  just  large  enougli  to  admit  a  rod 
of  iron  when  cold,  it  will  be  found  that,  when  the  rod  is 
heated,  it  will  no  longer  enter.  If  the  rod  be  left  to  cool 
down  to  its  former  temperature,  it  will  enter  as  at 
first.  This  shows  that  the  rod  has  been  expanded  by 
heat,  so  as  to  take  up  more  room  than  it  had  previously 
taken  up. 

When  a  wheelwright  makes  an  iron  tire  for  a  wagon 
wheel,  he  makes  it  just  long  enough  to  bring  the  fellies 
closely  together.  In  order  to  do  tliis  most  effectually,  he 
makes  it  a  little  too  short  to  go  on  while  cold.  He  there- 
fore expands  it  by  placing  it  on  a  circular  fire,  and  when 


THERMOMETER. 


26 


it  is  hot,  he  easily  slips  it  on.     Upon  cooling,  it  contracts, 
and  so  draws  the  fellies  firmly  and  closely  together. 

80.  There  are  several  kinds  of  thermome- 
ter. That  in  common  use  in  this  country  is 
called  Fahrenheit's,  from  the  name  of  the 
person  who  first  made  it.  It  is  made  of  a 
glass  tube  (a  b  fig.  1,)  having  a  small 
bore,  with  a  bulb  (a)  at  one  end,  filled  with 
quicksilver,  and  fastened  upon  a  plate  of 
metal  or  other  substance,  which  is  to  be 
marked  with  degrees.  When  it  is  to  be 
marked,  or  graduated,  the  bulb  and  tube  are 
held  in  a  mixture  of  melting  snow,  or  of 
snow  or  ice  and  water.  The  quicksilver 
witliin  the  tube  contracts  and  falls  to  a  cer- 
tain point,  where  it  remains.  Just  against 
this  point  a  line  is  drawn  on  the  plate  of  the 
frame,  and  the  number  32 
marked  at  the  end  of  it. 


-s 

Fig.  1. 

(thirty-two  degrees)  is 
This  is  called  the  freezing'  point. 

The  thermometer  is  then  held  in  boiling  water.  The 
quicksilver  expands  and  rises  till  it  reaches  a  point  at 
which  it  remains  stationary.  Against  tliis  point  a  mark 
is  drawn  on  the  plate,  and  the  number  212°  (two  hundred 
and  twelve  degrees)  is  made.  This  is  called  the  boiling 
point.  The  space  between  the  freezing  and  boiling  points 
is  divided  into  180  equal  parts,  called  degrees. 

The  space  below  the  freezing  point  is  divided  into  parts 
of  this  same  length,  down  to  the  bulb.  A  thermometer, 
to  be  used  to  measure  extremes  of  cold  and  heat,  should 
be  long  enough  to  extend  from  40°  or  50°  below  the 
freezing,  to  a  few  degrees  above  the  boiling  point.  But 
as  this  requires  a  long  tube,  instruments  for  common  use 
are  marked  up  to  only  140°  or  150°. 


26  CHANGES  IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

The  thermometer  is  an  instrument  of  great  utility  to 
the  farmer,  and  indeed  to  every  intelligent  person. 

81.  A  Barometer  is  constructed  upon  the  principle,  now 
a  well-known  fact,  that  air  has  weight.  It  can  be  weighed 
by  a  delicate  balance,  by  first  filling  a  flask  with  air  and 
weighing  it,  and  then  drawing  out  the  air  by  an  instru- 
ment called  an  air  pump,  and  weighing  the  flask  without 
the  air.  At  the  level  of  the  sea,  one  hundred  cubic 
inches  of  air  weigh  305  grains,  while  water  weighs  816 
times  as  much. 

82.  The  air  seems  to  be  pressed  towards  the  earth  by 
its  weight,  just  as  water  is  kept  in  the  ocean  and  in  lakes 
by  its  weight.  Its  pressure  is  greatest  at  the  level  of  the 
sea,  because  of  all  the  air  in  the  sky  above.  As  we  ascend 
a  hill  or  mountain,  the  pressure  becomes  less,  because 
there  is  less  air  above  us,  and  because  the  attraction  of 
gravitation  is  diminished.  The  air  is  constantly  in  motion ; 
and  its  pressure  upon  the  surface  of  water,  and  upon  all 
other  surfaces,  is  constantly  varying.  The  purpose  of  a 
barometer  is  to  measure  this  varying  pressure. 

83.  A  barometer  is  made  of  a  large  tube  of  glass,  pre- 
cisely like  that  of  the  thermometer  (a  b  fig.  1,)  but  much 
longer, — not  less  than  32  or  33  inches  long, — with  a  bag 
or  bulb  at  one  end,  filled  with  mercury,  or  quicksilver, 
so  contrived  as  to  rise  to  a  certain  height  in  the  tube, 
while  it  has  the  air  bearing  upon  it  in  the  bag  or  bulb. 
From  tlie  upper  end  of  the  tube  the  air  is  first  completely 
withdrawn  or  exhausted,  by  the  tube's  being  held  upside 
down.  The  tube  is  then  turned  back  and  fastened  to  a 
wooden  frame,  or  enclosed  in  a  case  with  a  graduated 
plate  beliind  the  upper  end  of  the  tube,  on  which  plate 
are  marked  the  heights  of  the  column  of  quicksilver. 


BAROMETER.  27 

84.  There  is  no  pressure  upon  tlie  top  of  the  mercury 
in  the  tube,  and  the  pressure  of  the  air  upon  tlie  mercury 
in  the  bag  forces  up  the  mercury  in  the  tube  till  its 
weight  exactly  balances  tlie  weight,  or  downward  pres- 
sure, of  the  air.  The  pressure  of  the  air  is  sometimes 
greater,  sometimes  less,  but  is  commonly  sufficient  to 
balance  the  downward  pressure  of  a  column  of  mercury 
29  or  30  inches  long.  As  the  pressure  of  the  air  increases, 
it  causes  the  mercury  to  rise  higher ;  as  it  diminishes,  it 
allows  the  mercury  to  fall  lower  ;  and  these  changes  are 
seen,  by  observing  how  high  the  surface  stands  as  marked 
on  the  graduated  scale.  Changes  in  the  weather  are 
sometimes  foreshown  by  changes  in  the  height  of  the 
mercury  as  indicated  by  this  scale. 

85.  The  downward  pressure,  or  weight,  of  a  column 
of  mercury  30  inches  long,  and  an  inch  square  at  the 
bottom,  is  15  pounds ;  and  as  this  column  is  sustained 
by  the  pressure  of  the  air,  every  where  near  the  level  of 
the  sea,  we  conclude  that  the  pressure  of  the  air,  on 
every  square  inch,  is  15  pounds. 

86.  When  the  mercury  in  the  tube  is  slowly  and  gradu- 
ally rising,  it  commonly  indicates  the  approach  of  fine 
weather.  When  it  is  regularly  and  slowly  falling,  it 
mdicates  foul  weather.  A  rapid  and  sudden  fall  of  the 
mercury  threatens  a  violent  wind. 

While  it  is  rising,  the  surface  of  the  mercury  is  convex, 
or  swelling  upwards ;  when  falling,  concave,  or  hollowing. 

87.  A  very  compact  and  convenient  barometer  is  made 
at  Lowell,  Mass.,  of  a  somewhat  different  construction. 
A  short  column  of  mercury,  in  a  glass  tube,  (c  D  fig.  1,) 
is  pressed  upon,  at  the  upper  surface,  by  the  atmosphere, 
with  which  it  has  communication.     The  other  end  of  the 


28  CHANGES  IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

column  of  mercury  presses  upwards  upon  perfectly  dry 
air  confined  in  an  enlargement  (c)  of  the  bent  tube. 

When  the  weight  of  the  atmosphere  increases,  the 
mercury  is  pressed  downwards  in  the  long  arm  and  rises 
in  the  short  arm  of  the  tube,  the  dry  confined  air,  from 
its  elasticity,  yielding  to  the  pressure.  The  length  of  the 
column  of  mercury  is  marked  upon  a  graduated  scale 
placed  on  one  side.  A  movable  scale,  (e  f)  called  a 
vernier^  is  attached,  so  contrived  as  to  measure  the 
height  of  the  column  to  hundredths  of  an  inch. 

88.  Careful  observation  of  the  winds,  and  of  the  barom- 
eter, with  a  knowledge  how  to  observe,  will  often  enable 
a  person  to  foresee  rain  for  some  hours,  or  a  day,  or  pos- 
sibly longer,  before  it  comes ;  but  no  person  can  yet 
predict,  with  any  certainty,  whether  the  succeeding  month 
will  be  dry  or  rainy. 

It  is  only  of  late  that  careful  and  continued  observa- 
tions have  been  carried  on,  upon  a  large  scale,  to  discover 
the  laivs  of  storms.  It  is  found  that  nearly  all  storms, 
in  the  Atlantic  States,  come  from  the  west,  and  travel 
pretty  rapidly  from  west  to  east.  Hereafter  we  may 
know,  certainly,  the  approach  of  a  storm  many  hours 
before  it  reaches  us.  The  Signal  Service  of  the  gov- 
ernment in  Washington,  having  telegraphic  communi- 
cation with  many  parts  of  the  country,  is  usually  able 
to  predict  the  approach  of  a  rain-storm  twelve  hours 
before  it  comes. 

89.  Of  what  are  commonly  considered  the  Signs  of  Rain, 
none  are  entirely  reliable.  When  the  sun  sets  clear,  with 
a  westerly  wind,  and  the  clouds  float  high  and  in  round, 
compact,  well-defined  masses,  we  may  expect  the  next 
day  to  be  fair.     But  when  the  sun  sets  in  a  deep  mass  of 


HYGROMETER.  29 

cloud,  with  a  southerly  Avind,  ram  may  be  expected,  that 
night  or  next  day. 

When  the  swallows  fly  low  and  often  dip  their  wings 
in  the  water  over  which  they  are  flying,  when  the  crow 
cries  louder  and  more  frequently  than  common,  when 
water-fowl  are  very  noisy  and  active,  when  dogs  appear 
unusually  dull  and  sleepy,  when  pigs  run  about  and  look 
uneasy,  when  the  croaking  of  frogs  is  loud  and  general, 
when  earth  worms  are  seen  in  great  numbers  on  the 
surface,  some  people  expect  rain. 

90.  The  principle  upon  which  the  Hygrometer  is  con- 
structed is  the  fact  that  there  is  always  more  or  less 
moisture  in  the  air,  and  tliat  tliis  moisture  is  absorbed  by 
certain  substances,  making  them  heavier,  and  enters  into 
lines  or  cords  made  of  other  substances,  making  them 
thicker  and  shorter. 

91.  A  hygrometer  may  be  made  of  a  piece  of  sponge 
filled  with  a  solution  of  some  salt,  which  has  an  attraction 
for  water.  This  sponge  is  suspended  to  one  end  of  a 
balance,  and,  as  it  grows  heavier  by  the  moisture  absorbed, 
causes  the  other  end  to  rise,  and  thus  indicates  the 
quantity  of  moisture  in  the  atmosphere.  Or  it  may  be 
made  of  a  cord  or  string,  with  a  weight  attached,  placed 
over  a  pully,  and  showing  the  moisture  by  its  lengthening 
or  shortening. 

92.  A  still  more  delicate  hygrometer  is  formed  of  two 
thermometers  on  the  same  frame,  the  bulb  of  one  of 
which  is  covered  with  thin  gauze,  which  may  be  kept 
continually  moist  by  a  contrivance  like  a  wick,  communi- 
cating with  a  cylinder  kept  full  of  water.  The  moisture 
on  the  gauze  evaporates  and  cools  the  bulb  within.  The 
amount  of  evaporation  depends  upon  the  dryness  of  the 


30  CHANGES  IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

atmosphere,  and  is  slio wn  by  the  difference  between  the 
two  thermometers. 

93.  By  means  of  tliese  three  instruments,  and  knowing 
how  to  use  them,  an  intelligent  husliandman  may  select 
the  moment  most  favorable  or  most  important  for  certain 
operations ;  and  can  often  predict,  with  an  approach  to 
probability,  what  changes  will  take  place  in  tlie  weather 
before  night  or  before  the  next  morning. 

94.  The  Variations  in  the  Temperature  of  the  air  depend 
first,  upon  the  seasons, — from  the  cold  of  winter  to  the 
heat  of  summer ;  2d,  upon  the  direction  of  the  wind, — 
some  winds  always  bringing  cold,  others  always  bringing 
heat ;  3d,  upon  the  clouds,  which  prevent  the  sun's  light 
and  heat  from  falling  upon  the  earth. 

95.  The  atmosphere  being  in  continual  motion,  like 
the  waters  of  the  ocean,  the  column  of  air  over  us  is 
sometimes   longer  and  heavier,  and  sometimes  shorter. 

96.  Variation  in  tlie  Moisture  of  the  air  depends  chiefly 
upon  the  winds,  which  bring  on  air  more  or  less  abun- 
dantly charged  with  moisture,  according  as  they  have 
passed  over  seas,  lakes,  or  rivers,  or  over  a  continent. 
In  the  Atlantic  States  of  America,  the  easterly  and 
southerly  winds,  coming  from  over  the  ocean,  are  always 
full  of  moisture.  The  south  and  west  winds,  coming 
from  warmer  regions,  are  warm,  and,  in  proportion  as 
they  are  more  westerly,  are  dryer  winds.  The  north  and 
west  winds,  coming  from  the  mountains  and  plains  of 
the  continent,  are  dry  and  cold.  The  coldest  and  dryest 
are  the  north  wind  and  the  north-west  wind,  and  any 
wind  from  a  point  between  the  two. 

The  moisture  also  depends  on  the  temperature.  Heat 
dissolves  moisture  as  water  dissolves  salt.  When  the  air 
is  warm,  it  can  contain  a  great  deal  of  moisture  ;  but  as 


DEW.  31 

the  air  cools,  the  moisture  in  it  is  condensed  into  clouds, 
fogs,  or  mists,  and  finally  into  rain. 

97.  There  are  many  other  atmospheric  appearances  or 
phenomena  which  it  is  important  for  the  husbandman  to 
be  acquainted  with,  such  as  dew  and  hoar  frosts,  which 
take  place  during  the  night,  when  the  sky  is  clear  ;  snow, 
which  seems  to  be  frozen  mist ;  hail,  and  hurricanes, 
which  are  by  some  persons  attributed  to  the  action  of 
electricity. 

98.  The  Formation  of  Dew  depends  upon  a  property 
which  all  solid  substances  have,  in  a  greater  or  less 
degree,  according  to  their  nature  and  outer  surface. 

When  I  hold  my  hand  towards  the  fire,  I  feel  the  heat 
darting  out  from  the  fire  to  my  hand.  I  feel  it  darting 
out,  in  the  same  manner,  from  a  hot  stove  or  from  a  hot 
fiat-iron,  on  whatever  side  of  the  stove  or  iron  I  hold  my 
hand.  The  heat  which  darts  out  thus  in  every  direction 
from  any  hot  thhig  is  said  to  radiate  from  it,  because  it 
comes  out  straight  from  it,  just  as  the  spokes,  (radii,  in 
Latin,)  come  out  on  every  side  from  the  hub  of  a  wheel. 
If  I  observe  carefully,  I  find  that  the  heat  comes  out 
more  abundantly  from  a  stove  the  surface  of  which  is 
very  rough,  than  from  one  which  is  very  smooth ;  and  I 
discover  that  the  reason  is,  that  every  little  projecting 
point  radiates  a  stream  of  heat. 

Now,  what  I  find  to  be  true  of  the  surface  of  a  hot 
stove  is  true  of  every  surface.  Every  solid  body  is  con- 
tinually sending  out  heat  in  straight  Hues, — radiating 
heat, — from  its  surface.  If  several  bodies  are  heated  to 
the  same  degree,  the  one  which  is  roughest  will  radiate 
and  consequently  cool  most  rapidly. 

When  the  sun  sets,  all  things  which  have  been  exposed 
to  his  heat  send  it  forth  by  radiation,  and  grow  cool. 


32  CHANGES  IN  THE  ATMOSPHERE. 

Those  things  which  have  the  roughest  surface,  like  the 
stems  and  leaves  of  grass,  cool  most  rapidly.  The  heat 
thus  radiated  is  sent  out  into  the  thin  air,  and,  if  tliere 
are  no  clouds,  is  lost  in  vast  space.  The  air  which  is 
near  to  these  blades  of  grass  imparts  its  heat  to  them  and 
grows  cold.  The  air  thus  becomes  incapable  of  holding 
in  solution  all  the  water  it  had  dissolved,  and  deposits  it, 
in  minute  particles,  upon  the  surface  of  the  grass.  The 
radiation  goes  on,  and  the  moisture  continues  to  be 
deposited,  till  the  blades  of  grass  are  covered  with  drops; 
and  these  drops  are  drops  of  dew. 

Now,  just  as,  by  placing  a  screen  before  a  fire,  we  pre- 
vent the  heat  from  being  radiated  into  the  room,  and  send 
it  back  to  the  fire,  so  a  screen  of  clouds  stretched  over 
the  earth  prevents  the  heat  received  from  the  sun  from 
being  rapidly  radiated  into  the  empty  air,  and  thus 
prevents  the  formation  of  dew.  We  find,  accordingly, 
that  dew  is  formed  only  on  clear  evenings. 

99.  Hoar-frost  is  formed  in  precisely  the  same  manner 
as  dew,  but  at  so  low  a  temperature  that  the  moisture 
freezes  as  it  collects  on  the  radiating  surface,  and,  instead 
of  forming  round  drops,  shapes  itself  into  slender  needles 
of  ice. 

100.  The  Climate  of  a  Country  is  the  general  effect  of 
the  combined  action  of  all  the  causes  just  spoken  of,  viz., 
heat,  moisture,  wind,  and  of  others  still.*     The  husband- 

*  Humboldt  says;  "The  expression  'climate'  signifies  all  those  states  and 
changes  of  the  atmosphere  -which  sensibly  affect  our  organs — temperature, 
humidit}',  variation  of  barometric  pressure,  a  calm  state  of  the  air  or  the  effects 
of  different  Avinds,  the  amount  of  electric  tension,  the  purity  of  the  atmosphere 
or  its  admixture  ^vith  more  or  less  deleterious  exhalations,  and,  lastly,  the  degree 
of  habitual  transparency  of  the  air  and  serenity  of  the  sky,  Avhich  has  an  impor- 
tant influence  not  only  on  the  organic  development  of  plants  and  the  ripening  of 
fruits,  but  also  on  the  feelings  and  the  whole  mental  disposition  of  man."— 
Cosmos,  I.  313. 


CLIMATE.  33 

man  ought  to  understand  the  climate  of  the  country  in 
which  he  lives,  in  order  that  he  may  accommodate  himself 
to  it  in  the  management  of  himself  and  of  the  animals 
and  plants  he  has  charge  of. 

101.  Our  New  England  climate  is  one  of  extremes. 
The  heat  is  very  great  in  summer,  and  the  cold  very  severe 
in  winter.  The  climate  of  the  west  of  Europe  is  far 
milder.  As  we  go  west  from  the  Atlantic  the  climate 
becomes  less  extreme. 

102.  So  great  is  the  influence  of  climate  that  each 
country  has  its  own  peculiar  productions,  which  it  is  often 
difficult  to  acclimatize^  that  is,  make  to  flourish,  in  any 
other ;  and,  before  introducing  a  new  plant  or  animal 
upon  his  farm,  the  farmer  ought  to  ascertain  w^hether  it 
is  suited  to  the  climate.  But  both  plants  and  animals 
from  distant  countries  are  frequently  introduced  with 
success  ;  so  that,  without  a  fair  trial  made  by  himself  or 
some  one  else,  the  farmer  ought  not  to  take  it  for  granted 
that  a  new  plant  or  a  new  animal  will  not  be  safely  and 
successfully  introduced. 

103.  The  Diversity  of  Climate  depends  on  many  causes ; 
some  general  and  some  particular  and  local.  Among 
the  general  causes,  the  first  is  latitude,  or  the  distance 
from  that  part  of  the  earth  where  the  sun  is  at  noon 
directly,  or  vertically,  overhead.  The  heat  depends,  in  a 
great  measure,  upon  the  height  above  the  horizon  to 
which  the  sun  rises  at  noon.  The  higher  it  rises,  the 
hotter  it  is. 

The  second  cause  is  elevation  above  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  higher  Ave  go  above  this  level,  the  colder  we 
find  it,  till  we  reach  the  tops  of  lofty  mountains,  where 
the  snow  never  melts. 


34  OF   WATER. 

The  third  cause  is  distance  from  the  sea.  Nearness 
to  the  sea  lias  a  tendency  to  moderate'  the  cold  of  winter 
and  the  heat  of  summer ;  and  islands  in  the  ocean  have 
usually  a  more  equable  climate  than  any  part  of  a  con- 
tinent. 

Another  cause,  particvilarly  affecting  the  ripening  of 
fruits,  is  the  brightness  of  the  sun,  from  the  clearness  of 
the  atmosphere.  The  heat  of  clear,  uninterrupted  sun- 
shine ripens  fruit  more  rapidly  and  develops  the  sweet  and 
rich  juices  more  effectually  than  the  same  amount  of  heat 
under  a  cloudy  sky. 

104.  Some  of  the  particular  and  local  causes  are  the 
"condition  of  the  surface  of  a  country,  whether  it  is 
covered  with  woods,  or  bare,  situated  on  the  mountains, 
on  a  plain,  on  the  side  of  a  river,  or  at  the  bottom  of 
a  valley,  protected  against  the  prevailing  cold  or  hot 
winds,  or  exposed  to  them ;  and  the  nature  of  the  soil, 
its  inclination,  and  its  exposure  to  the  south  or  north,  to 
much  or  to  little  sunshine. 


CHAPTER  y. 


OF   WATER. 


105.  Though  it  seems  so  simple  and  pure,  yet  water  is, 
as  has  already  been  said,  a  compound  of  the  two  ele- 
mentary substances,  oxygen  and  hydrogen.  As  it  is  of 
vital  importance-,  in  the  economy  of  nature,  it  is  found  in 
the  greatest  abundance,  filling  lakes  and  seas  and  oceans. 


THREE    FORMS    OF   WATER. LATENT    HEAT.  35 

It  is  indispensable  to  the  nourishment  both  of  plants  and 
of  animals ;  and  it  dissolves  much  of  the  other  food  with 
which  plants  are  nourished. 

106.  At  the  usual  temperature  of  the  greater  part  of 
the  year,  water  is  a  transparent  liquid,  which,  when  pure, 
has  neither  color,  taste,  nor  smell.  But  while  water  is 
the  great  solvent  of  vegetable  food,  it  is  itself  dissolved 
by  heat,  a  still  more  powerful  solvent. 

107.  Water  is  found  in  the  three  forms  or  conditions 
of  ice,  water,  and  vapor,  according  to  the  amount  of  heat 
with  which  it  is  combined. 

(1.)  With  little  or  no  heat,  it  is  solid  Ice  or  snow.  If 
extremely  cold  ice  be  placed  in  a  kettle  over  a  fire,  it  will 
be  found,  by  observing  a  thermometer  with  its  bulb 
placed  within  it,  to  rise  gradually  until  it  reaches  32°. 
It  then  begins  to  thaw  or  turn  into  water,  and  if  a  steady 
fire  be  kept  up,  under  the  kettle,  it  continues  to  thaw 
until  all  the  ice  becomes  water.  During  all  this  time, 
though  heat  from  the  fire  is  constantly  entering  it, 
through  the  kettle,  it  continues  of  the  same  temperature, 
just  at  32°. 

What  has  become  of  the  heat  ?  It  has  been  used  up 
hi  dissolving  the  ice  and  turning  it  into  water.  It  has 
not  rendered  the  water  warmer ;  it  is  hidden  or  latent  in 
the  water ;  and  is  called  the  Latent  Heat  of  the  water. 
Ice  has  been  changed  by  combining  with  heat,  into 

(2.)  Water.  If,  now,  the  same  steady  fire  be  continued 
under  the  kettle,  the  temperature  of  the  water  gradually 
rises  to  the  boiling  point,  212°,  and  then  begins  to  boil. 
AVith  the  same  steady  fire,  the  water  will  entirely  boil 
away,  or  evaporate^  in  a  certain  space  of  time.  And  it  will 
be  found  that  it  takes  more  tha:i  five  times  as  much  heat 
to  boil  the  water  all  away,  as  it  had  taken  to  raise  it  180°, 

4* 


36  OF   WATER. 

from  the  freezing  to  the  boiling  point.  At  the  same  rate, 
the  water  would  have  been  raised  nearly  to  1,000°,  if  it 
had  not  been  dissolved  by  heat  and  turned  into 

(3.)  Vapor.  The  vapor  thus  formed  is  no  hotter  than 
the  boiUng  water.  It  does  not  rise  above  212°.  What 
has  become  of  all  the  heat?  It  has  been  used  up  in 
turning  the  water  into  vapor.  This  heat  is  not  indicated 
by  the  thermometer.  It  seems  to  be  latent  in  the  vapor; 
and  it  is  called  the  Latent  Heat  of  the  Vapor. 

108.  The  boiling  of  water  is  the  agitation  produced  by 
the  rising  of  the  vapor,  formed  at  the  bottom  of  the 
kettle,  up  through  the  rest  of  the  water ;  and  the  vapor 
is  more  abundantly  formed  in  proportion  as  the  heat  of 
the  fire  is  greater.  But  the  water  does  not  change  its 
temperature  in  consequence  of  the  violent  ebullition. 
For  common  cooking,  therefore,  the  gentlest  boiling  is 
just  as  effectual  as  the  most  violent. 

109.  At  the  boiling  point,  vapor  is  formed  very  rapidly. 
But  water,  exposed  to  the  air,  is  continually  evaporating, 
at  every  temperature.  Indeed,  such  is  the  tendency  of 
water  to  take  the  form  of  vapor,  that  even  snow  and  ice, 
in  the  air,  are  constantly  turning  into  vapor.  Wherever 
it  takes  place,  evaporation  always  uses  up  heat,  or  causes 
it  to  become  latent,  and  thus  cools  the  air  and  all  sur- 
rounding objects.  Indeed,  whenever  vapor,  or  air,  or 
any  other  gas,  expands,  so  as  to  occupy  more  space,  it  at 
the  same  time  requires  more  heat  and  absorbs  it  from 
every  thing  within  its  reach  capable  of  furnishing  it.  Its 
capacity  for  heat  is  said  to  be  increased. 

110.  When,  on  the  contrary,  vapor  turns  again  to  the 
state  of  water,  \i  gives  out  all  the  latent  heat  which  it  had 
taken  in,  while  turning  from  water  into  vapor.  The 
same  is  true  of  other  gases.     Whenever  they  are  con- 


CLOUDS. FOGS. MIST. — RAIN.  37 

densed,  they  give  out  the  heat  which  had  sustained  them 
in  the  form  of  gas. 

And,  in  hke  manner,  when  Water  Freezes,  it  gives  out 
the  Heat  which  it  had  taken  in,  while  turning  from  ice 
into  water.  We  thus  see  why  it  happens  that,  to  protect 
vegetables,  in  a  cellar,  against  freezing,  we  have  only  to 
place  tubs  of  water  there,  the  warmer  the  better.  The 
temperature  of  the  cellar  will  not  fall  below  the  freezing- 
point,  till  the  water  has  been  converted  into  ice. 

111.  The  atmosphere  always  contains  moisture  ;  that 
is,  water  in  the  state  of  vapor,  which  the  heat  of  the  sun 
has  drawn  up  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  and  sea,  and 
which  floats,  invisible,  in  the  air.  The  warmer  the  air  is 
the  more  water  it  can  contain.  When  the  air  cools,  the 
invisible  vapor  which  it  contained  becomes  visible  in  little 
hollow  globules  or  vesicles,  like  minute  soap  bubbles,  and 
forms  clouds,  fogs  and  mists. 

112.  The  difference  between  clouds  and  fogs  or  mists 
is  chiefly  their  situation.  Clouds  are  at  a  distance  or 
high  up  in  the  air ;  Fogs  are  clouds  near  the  earth ;  and 
if  the  fog  be  thick  enougli  to  wet  us  considerably,  without 
drops,'  we  call  it  Mist.  When  a  person,  looking  at  a  dis- 
tant mountain,  sees  it  capped  with  a  cloud,  another  per- 
son, standing  on  the  top  of  the  mountain,  finds  himself 
surrounded  by  fog  or  mist. 

113.  Rain.  The  air  itself  may  be  capable  of  dissolving 
water,  but  the  quantity  which  the  air  can  hold  depends 
upon  its  warmth. 

Wind  which  has  long  been  blowing  over  the  sea  becomes 
completely  saturated  with  moisture  in  the  state  of  vapor. 
If  it  now  blow  upon  low  land  warmer  than  itself,  the  air 
becomes  warmer  and  retains  all  its  moisture ;  if  upon 
land  colder  and  gradually  or  rapidly  higher,  it  is  cooled 


38  OF    WATER. 

and  parts  with  its  moisture.  The  vesicles  of  vapor  are 
brought  near  each  other,  come  together,  and  form  droj^s 
large  and  heavy  enough  to  fall,  and  Avhich  come  down  as 
rain. 

If  air  full  of  moisture  be  met  by  air  much  colder  than 
itself,  the  sudden  cooling  causes  the  water  to  be  thrown 
down,  or  precipitated,  in  torrents  of  rain. 

114.  The  cause  of  the  fall  of  rain  in  a  thunder  shower 
is  thought  to  be  the  fact  that  electricity  is  always  evolved 
during  evaporation,  and  that  a  cloud  formed  by  evapora- 
tion must  be  therefore  charged  full  of  electricity.  When 
a  cloud  so  charged  meets  another,  or  a  mass  of  air, 
charged  with  the  other  kind  of  electricity,  the  opposite 
electricities  rush  together  and  unite  in  a  lightning  flash, 
and  the  moisture  held  suspended  by  the  action  of  elec- 
tricity is  precipitated  to  the  ground. 

115.  When,  during  the  formation  of  the  rain  drops, 
the  temperature  of  the  air  is  below  the  freezing  point, 
the  vesicles  of  moisture,  or  their  fragments,  are  frozen 
into  little  icy  needles,  which  unite,  at  an  angle  of  60°, 
into  beautiful,  star-like  flakes  of  Snow,  and  fall  to  the 
ground. 

Snow  has  been  called  "  the  poor  man's  manure."  It 
always  brings  down  with  it  fertilizing  substances  ;  and  it 
performs  a  most  important  office  in  many  regions,  by  cov- 
ering over  and  protecting  from  extreme  cold  the  surface 
of  the  earth  with  all  its  clothing  of  plants,  and  keeping 
in  the  Avarmth  which  had  entered  the  earth  during  the 
previous  summer,  and  preventing  its  being  radiated  away 
into  empty  space. 

116.  How  Hail  is  formed  is  not  perfectly  well  known. 
Hail  seems  to  be  drops  of  rain  frozen.  Electricity  has 
something  to  do  with  it,  and  in  some  parts  of  Europe, 


SPRINGS. WATER    A    SOLVENT.  39 

hail  storms  have  been  rendered  much  less  frequent  by 
the  use  of  lightning  rods. 

117.  Springs.  The  water  which  falls  upon  the  earth 
in  rain,  sinks  into  the  ground  and  moistens  it;  and,  when 
very  abundant,  penetrates  deeper,  till  it  meets  with  beds 
of  rock,  or  clay,  or  of  some  other  impermeable  earth,  that 
is,  earth  through  which  it  cannot  pass.  It  runs  along 
the  surface  of  these  beds  until  it  meets  a  natural  opening, 
out  of  which  it  issues  as  a  fountain  or  spring.  Or,  it  may 
remain  in  a  basin,  on  the  surface  of  the  impermeable 
bed,  and  be  safe,  as  in  a  reservoir,  until  an  artificial 
outlet  is  made  by  digging  a  well. 

118.  From  springs  run  little  rivulets,  by  the  union 
of  many  of  which  are  formed  brooks,  rivers  and  lakes; 
the  waters  of  all  of  which  commonly  flow  at  last  into  the 
sea.  There,  the  heat  of  the  sun  raises  it  in  vapor  to 
begin  again  the  beneficent  circuit,  and  form  mists  and 
clouds  and  rain. 

119.  Water  is  essential  to  the  life  of  every  plant.  Sev- 
eral of  the  substances  on  which  plants  feed,  can  penetrate 
into  their  cells  and  thence  through  the  tissues,  only  after 
being  dissolved  in  water.  With  it  they  are  sucked  in  by 
the  roots,  and  in  it  are  carried  to  the  very  extremities  of 
the  plant. 

120.  Next  to  heat,  water  is  the  most  universal  solvent. 
The  rain,  as  it  descends,,  absorbs  and  condenses  the 
gases  which  float  in  the  atmosphere,  and  brings  them 
down  into  the  earth  fit  for  the  use  of  plants.  Of 
ammonia  it  can  dissolve  780  times  its  own  bulk  ;  of  car- 
bonic acid,  its  own  bulk  ;  and  it  commonly  brings  down  a 
portion  of  air,  rich  in  oxygen,  and  sometimes  nitric  acid. 
It  also  absorbs  and  brings  down  all  kinds  of  dirt,  and 
other  impurities,  numerous  minute  seeds  of  plants,  and 


40  OF   WATER. 

invisible  eggs  of  microscopic  animals,  and  thus  cleanses 
and  s^Yeetens  the  atmosphere. 

121.  Evaporation  from  the  surface  of  the  earth  always 
cools  it.  But,  on  the  condensation  of  ammonia,  and  the 
other  gases,  the  reverse  must  take  place.  The  heat  which 
had  held  them  in  a  gaseous  form,  is  given  to  the  water  in 
which  they  are  absorbed  and  condensed,  warms  it,  and, 
sinking  into  the  earth,  warms  the  soil. 

122.  Plants  absorb  a  large  quantity  of  Avater  through 
every  part  of  their  surface,  but  chiefly  through  their 
roots.  But  by  the  action  of  light  and  heat,  they  exhale 
a  good  deal  of  it  through  the  leaves.  You  have  only  to 
cover  a  plant  exposed  to  the  sun's  light  with  a  bell  glass, 
and  you  will  presently  sec  the  inner  surface  of  the  glass 
covered  with  dew,  and  soon  after  with  little  drops.  'The 
evaporation  which  is  going  on  from  the  surface  of 
leaves  is  one  of  the  sources  from  which  the  moisture  of 
the  atmosphere  is  supplied.  As  we  are  subject  sometimes 
to  excessive  heat  and  drouglit,  and  sometimes  to  excessive 
rains,  the  object  of  the  farmer  should  be  to  guard  against 
both,  and  to  render  his  fields,  as  far  as  he  can,  indepen- 
dent of  variations  in  moisture. 

123.  We  manage  to  prevent  plants  from  suffering  for 
want  of  water  by  irrigation,  that  is,  watering  with  little 
streams,  when  these  are  possible  and  not  too  expensive  ; 
and  by  other  artificial  means.  We  can  do  something 
towards  it,  often  we  can  do  a  great  deal,  by  keeping  the 
tops  of  the  hills  in  our  neighborhood  covered  with  trees. 
These  attract  and  impede  the  clouds,  and  induce  them  to 
pour  down  their  rain. 

124.  Deep  plougliing,  by  rendering  the  earth  to  a  con- 
siderable depth  capable  of  retaining  moisture,  will  also 


TO    RETAIN   MOISTURE. DRAINAGE.  41 

do   something  ;    and   fertilizing   with   substances   which 
attract  moisture,  will  do  still  more. 

Every  thing  done  to  improve  the  soil  makes  it  retentive 
of  moisture.  Clay,  mixed  with  a  sandy  soil,  converts  it 
into  a  retentive  loam.  The  remains  of  vegetable  and 
animal  substances  form  a  spongy  matter  in  the  soil, 
which  acts  as  a  reservoir  to  retain  the  moisture  and  other 
food  of  plants,  and  yield  it  only  to  their  roots. 

125.  The  rain,  as  it  falls,  always  contains  carbonic 
acid,  ammonia,  and  other  elements  of  plant  nourishment. 
If  it  sink  into  the  earth,  the  soil  absorbs  all  these  precious 
materials,  and  allows  the  superfluous  water  to  escape 
only  after  having  left  its  contribution  in  the  soil.  Besides, 
if  the  rain  be  allowed  to  run  off  from  the  surface,  it 
forms  streams  and  little  torrents,  and  carries  with  it 
much  of  the  loose  and  most  valuable  portions  of  the  soil. 

The  soil  should  therefore  be  kept,  for  some  depth  below 
the  surface,  so  melloAV  and  penetrable,  that  the  rain, 
instead  of  running  off,  shall  sink  into  the  ground.  In 
ploughing  a  side  hill,  the  furrows  must  run  horizontally 
along  the  slope,  so  that  each  furrow  may  detain  the  water 
as  it  falls,  and  prevent  its  forming  gullies,  which  it  will 
do,  if  the  furrows  run  up  and  down  the  hill. 

126.  Excess  of  wet  is  also  sometimes  to  be  feared, 
especially  when  the  water  has  no  way  of  running  off,  but 
remains  stagnant,  either  beneath  or  above  the  surface,  for 
it  then  causes  the  plants  with  wliicli  it  comes  in  contact 
to  mould  and  decay.  We  must  then  have  recourse  to 
ditching  and  drainage. 

127.  Drainage  is  an  operation  by  which  we  draw  off 
the  superabundant  water  from  the  soil  and  from  the  earth 
lying  beneath  the  soil,  where  it  would  not  otherwise 
escape.     It  is  effected  by  placing  lines  of  porous  earthen 


42  OF   WATER. 

tubes  at  a  convenient  depth,  so  arnuigcd  as  to  receive  the 
superfluous  moisture  and  carry  it  off. 

128.  The  effects  of  drainage  may  be  explained  by  a 
comparison.  Plants  which  are  kept  in  flower-pots  would 
soon  rot  at  the  root,  if  the  water  with  which  they  are 
watered  were  left  to  stagnate  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot 
without  any  means  of  escape.  For  this  reason,  the  bot- 
tom of  the  pot  has  a  liole  in  it,  to  let  the  superfluous 
water  run  out.  Now  drainage  does  the  same  service  for 
the  field  that  the  hole  in  the  bottom  does  for  the  earth 
in  the  flower-pot. 

129.  Drainage  produces  several  other  effects,  three  of 
which  are  important. 

(1.)  The  earth  being  rendered  less  moist  at  the  surface, 
far  less  evaporation  takes  place  there.  Whence,  as 
evaporation  always  cools  the  surface  very  considerably, 
a  drained  field  keeps  in  the  heat  better  than  one  not 
drained ;  and  the  natural  consequence  is  that  the  crops 
ripen  earlier.  The  grain  on  a  drained  field  is  generally 
fit  for  the  sickle  some  days,  often  some  weeks,  earlier 
than  that  on  other  fields. 

(2.)  Lands  well  drained  and  deeply  tilled  bear  the 
drought  better  than  others.  The  reason  of  this  seems 
to  be,  that  the  pores  are  always  open  in  deeply  tilled, 
well-drained  land,  to  an  unusual  depth.  Evaporation 
cannot  reach  to  a  great  depth,  and,  in  a  season  of  drought, 
the  open  pores  allow  the  moisture  which  has  been  kept 
in  the  deep  earth  to  rise  by  capiUary  attraction. 

(3.)  The  subterranean  pipes  laid  in  the  earth,  open  the 
soil  to  a  freer  access  of  air,  allowing  it,  as  it  were,  to 
breathe,  and  receive  the  benefits  of  being  subjected  to  the 
action  of  the  air.  The  soil  is  thus  rendered  fit  to  absorb 
and  retain  the  nutritious  substances  V>rought  into  it  by 


ADVANTAGES   OF   THOROUGH    DRAINAGE.  43 

tlio  rain  water,  and  keep  tliem  laid  up  for  the  nourish- 
ment of  plants. 

130.  Here  tlien  are  the  advantages  of  deep  and  thorough 
drainage.  It  deepens  the  availalde  soil,  by  removing  any 
superfluous  water  from  the  lower  portion,  and  allowing  the 
roots  of  plants  to  penetrate  freely.  It  warms  the  land  l^y 
diminishing  evaporation  at  the  surface.  By  carrying 
the  redundant  moisture  readily  away  at  all  seasons,  it 
gives  the  opportunity  of  early  cultivation,  thus  lengthen- 
ing our  short  seasons,  and  of  thoroughly  mellowhig  the 
soil,  which  cannot  be  done  if  it  be  too  wet;  and  it  entirely 
avoids  the  danger  of  losing  the  plants  on  the  surface  by 
having  them  freeze  out,  as  they  often  do,  if  water  continues 
to  stand  on  the  surface  at  the  approach  of  very  cold 
weatlier.  It  moreover  guards  plants  against  the  evil 
consequences  of  drought. 

131.  For,  in  a  well-drained  soil,  the  roots  will  penetrate 
to  a  much  greater  depth  than  in  an  ill-drained  soil.  By 
draining,  only  the  unnecessary  and  hurtful  moisture  is 
carried  away.  The  soil,  if  rich,  retains  very  tenaciously  all 
that  is  necessary,  and  parts  with  it  very  reluctantly  and 
only  to  the  roots  of  plants.  Xow  roots  which  have  pene- 
trated two  or  three  feet  have  twice  or  thrice  as  large  a 
store  of  moisture  to  draw  upon,  in  case  of  drought,  as 
those  which  have  been  prevented  from  going  down  more 
tlian  one  foot. 

In  a  well  drained  field,  the  spring  rains,  instead  of 
being  allowed  to  run  away  and  be  lost,  are  saved,  as  in 
a  reservoir,  against  the  heats  and  drought  of  summer. 

132.  A  rich  soil,  rendered  deep  and  mellow  by  thorough 
cultivation,  and  by  a  system  of  underdraining,  is  thus 
the  best  preventive  to  the  consequences  of  drought  which 
the  farmer  can  provide,  and  it  is,  at  the  same  time,  most 
effectual  against  tlie  evils  of  excessive  rain. 


44  OF   PLANTS. 


CHAPTER   VI. 

OF   PLANTS. 

133.  Though  fixed,  and  incapable  of  voluntary  motion, 
and  differing  from  animals  in  structure  and  organization, 
plants  proceed  from  other  parent  plants,  and  live,  are 
nourished  and  die,  like  animals,  and,  like  them,  produce 
offspring  similar  to  themselves.  Plants  live  and  grow. 
Animals  live,  grow  and  feel.  Vegetable  life,  therefore,  is 
a  very  different  thing  from  animal  life. 

134.  The  simplest  of  all  plants  consist  of  mere  bladders 
or  little  round  cells.  These  little  cells  imbibe  their  nour- 
ishment, in  a  fluid  state,  directly  through  the  thin  coat 
by  which  they  are  covered.  Tne  fluid  within  moves 
around  in  little  curves,  and  changes  at  last  take  place 
in  it,  by  which  other  smaller  cells  are  formed.  These 
gradually  enlarge  and  finally  burst  the  covering  of  the 
original  cell,  and  become  new  plants,  similar  to  their 
mother  cell,  and  grow  to  the  same  size.  Such  are  the 
simplest  of  all  plants ;  and  the  growth  of  other  plants, 
even  of  the  highest  perfection  of  structure,  takes  place 
by  the  formation,  within  the  cells  already  existing,  or 
outside  of  them,  of  other  cells  similar  in  nature  but 
sometimes  differing  in  shape. 

135.  Plants,  consisting  each  of  a  single  cell,  are  found 
in  such  numbers  as  sometimes  to  give  a  brilliant  red 
color  to  whole  miles  of  snow  and  ice  on  which  they  grow. 

136.  Other  plants,  almost  as  simple,  are  formed  of  a 
thread  of  single  cells,  strung  together,  end  to  end,  like  a 
string  of  beads.  Of  this  structure  are  many  delicate 
fresh  water  plants.     And  it  is  a  plant  of  this  kind  which. 


ORGANS. — ROOT. — STEM.  45 

bj  growing  very  rapidly  through  dough,  in  which  its 
seeds  have  been  sown  in  the  form  of  yeast,  causes  an 
action  which  makes  it  swell  and  form  light  bread.  Other 
plants  are  formed  of  a  single  thickness  of  cells  arranged 
side  by  side  and  end  to  end.  These  also  are  usually 
found  growing  in  water. 

There  are  still  others  which  consist  of  a  few,  often 
only  three  or  six  layers  of  cells,  plants  having  length  and 
breadth  with  but  little  thickness.  Such  are  the  lichens 
which  form  a  thin  crust  on  the  bark  of  trees  and  on  the 
surface  of  rocks  which  have  been  long  exposed  to  the 
atmosphere. 

137.  Most  plants  are  formed  of  cells  growing  out  of 
each  other  in  every  direction,  upwards,  forming  the  stem, 
downwards,  forming  the  root,  and  on  every  side,  forming 
the  thickness  of  root,  stem  and  branches,  and  leaves  and 
flowers  and  fruits. 

138.  The  parts  just  enumerated,  the  parts  of  which  the 
plant  is  made  up,  are  called  the  Organs. 

139.  The  principal  organs  are  1st,  the  root ;  2d,  the 
stem  ;  3d,  the  leaves ;  4th,  the  flower  ;  5th,  the  fruit. 

140.  The  Root  is  the  part  which  penetrates  from  the 
light  into  the  earth,  and  gives  the  plant  foothold,  and  the 
means  of  obtaining  nourishment.  It  usually  divides  into 
smaller  and  smaller  roots  and  rootlets,  or  radicles  and 
fibres,  more  and  more  slender,  the  cells  along  the  sides 
and  extremity  of  which  are  the  real  mouths  by  which 
most  of  the  food  of  the  plant  enters  into  its  circu- 
lation. The  amount  of  food  which  a  plant  can  receive 
from  the  soil  depends  upon  the  number  and  surface  of 
the  fibres  of  the  roots. 

141.  The  Stem  is  tlie  part  of  the  plant  which  rises 
upwards  into  the  air  and  liglit,  and  supports  the  branches. 


46  OF   PLANTS. 

leaves,  flowers  and  fruit.  The  point  at  or  near  the  sur- 
face of  the  earth,  where  the  root  and  stem  join,  is  called 
the  collar  of  the  plant. 

142.  The  stem  and  branches  are  protected  from  heat 
and  cold  by  the  bark. 

143.  The  Leaves  are  the  organs  through  which  the  air, 
and  the  light  and  heat  of  the  sun  act  upon  the  sap  which 
comes  up  into  them  through  the  stem.  Through  their 
surface  the  superfluous  moisture  is  evaporated,  and  oxy- 
gen gas  is  thrown  out  into  the  air,  and  carbonic  acid  and 
other  gases  for  the  nourishment  of  the  plant  are  absorbed. 

The  Sap  changed  by  these  actions  of  the  elements,  is 
carried  back  down  into  the  stem,  and  converted,  by  the 
vital  action  of  the  plant,  into  wood,  bark,  new  branches 
and  leaves,  fruits  and  whatever  else  is  produced  by  the 
plant. 

144.  The  Flower  is  the  organ  by  means  of  which  the 
seeds  are  prepared  ;  and  a  great  object  of  the  plant  is  the 
production  of  fruit  containing  seeds. 

145.  By  carefully  examining  a  rose,  you  may  see  the 
several  parts  of  which  a  Flower  consists.  Outside  of  the 
flower  leaves  is  a  flower  cup  or  Calyx,  of  five  green  leaves, 
called  the  calyx  leaves  or  sepals,  which  cover  and  protect 
all  the  parts  of  the  flower,  before  they  are  ready  to  open. 

146.  Inside  the  calyx  are  the  flower  leaves,  called 
Petals,  tender,  and  of  a  delicate  texture  and  beautiful 
color.     All  the  petals  together  are  called  the  Corolla. 

147.  Next  inside  the  corolla  are  the  Stamens,  slender 
threads  or  filaments,  of  a  pale  yellow  color,  each  bearing 
at  its  extremity  a  little  sack  called  an  Anther,  full  of  fine 
dust  called  pollen.  This  dust  or  Pollen  is  essential  to  the 
fecundation  of  the  seeds,  that  is,  to  their  becoming  perfect, 
fertile  seeds,  fit  to  produce  a  plant. 


FLOWER. — OVARY. — FRUIT.  47 

148.  Inside  the  stamens,  in  the  middle  of  the  flower, 
are  the  Pistils,  each  one  of  which  consists  of  a  short  column, 
called  a  Style,  tipped  with  a  very  delicate  crest  called  the 
Stigma,  which  is  usually  tender  and  moist  when  the  flower 
is  in  perfection.  In  a  rose  the  style  seems  to  be  nearly 
wanting,  the  stigma  appearing  to  rest  almost  directly 
upon  the  receptacle  or  centre  of  the  flower.  But  if  you 
cut  down  directly  through  the  centre  of  the  flower,  you 
you  will  find  the  style  somewhat  long  and  connected  at 
the  bottom  with  an  ovule. 

149.  The  Pollen  or  fertilizing  dust  of  the  anther  falls 
upon  the  moist  stigma,  and  penetrates,  by  means  of  some- 
thing which  looks  like  a  root,  to  the  interior  of  the  base 
of  the  style  to  a  cavity  called  the  Ovary,  containing  ovides, 
or  imperfect,  riidimentary  seeds.  The  effect  is  to  fertilize 
the  ovules  and  make  them  become  real,  proper  seeds,  by 
producing  within  them  an  Embryo,  or  minute,  future 
plant. 

150.  When  the  seeds  are  fertilized,  the  flower  begins  to 
fade.  Its  corolla  falls  off,  its  stamens  shrivel  up,  and  its 
calyx  usually,  but  not  always,  falls  or  shrinks  and  disap- 
pears. The  ovary  swells  and  becomes  the  Fruit,  which,  in 
process  of  time,  ripens  and  falls  or  dries  up  or  decays, 
according  to  the  kind  of  plant,  and  leaves  the  seeds  ready 
to  germinate  or  sprout,  and  thus  become  plants,  or  to  be 
gathered  and  sown  at  the  proper  season. 

151.  Whatever  contains  the  seed  is  properly  called  the 
Fruit  of  a  plant.  In  the  case  of  wheat,  rye  and  some 
other  seeds,  each  kernel  is  at  the  same  time  a  seed  and  a 
fruit.  Usually,  however,  a  fruit  contains  several  or  even 
a  large  number  of  seeds.  A  bean  pod  or  pea  pod  or  a 
poppy  head,  is  a  fruit,  as  well  as  an  apple,  a  pear  or  a 
melon,  ,5* 


48  OF   PLANTS. 

We  may  now  understand  what  is  meant  by  organic 
substances.  Plants,  as  we  have  just  seen,  are  made  up 
of  organs.  So  are  animals.  The  lungs  are  the  organs 
of  breathing,  the  stomach  is  the  organ  of  digestion.  All 
the  parts  of  animals  and  plants  are  organized,  and  the 
substances  which  belong  or  have  belonged  to  animals  or 
plants  are  called  organic.  Mineral  and  all  other  sub- 
stances are  inorganic. 

152.  Now  observe  what  happens  when  the  seed  is  put 
into  the  ground.  Every  seed  contains  an  embryo  or 
minute  plant.  This,  called  the  sprout,  you  may  easily 
see  in  a  bean,  if  you  open  it  carefully.  AVhen  a  seed 
is  put  into  the  earth,  in  a  favorable  state  of  moisture 
and  warmth,  it  presently  begins  to  sprout  or  germinate. 
The  sprout  breaks  through  the  seed  coat,  and  the  future 
stem  shoots  upward  into  the  light  and  air,  and  the  root 
turns  downward  from  them. 

153.  As  soon  as  the  stem  rises  above  the  surface  it 
commonly  spreads  out  two  seed  leaves,  which  had  been 
already  formed  in  the  seed.  These  leaves,  or  Cotyledons, 
may  be  ahvays  seen  in  a  bean,  pea,  or  apple  seed,  which 
has  just  come  up.  But  none  of  the  grains  or  grasses 
have  them.  The  cotyledons  are  quite  unlike  the  succeed- 
ing leaves  of  the  plant.  It  is  important  to  remember 
this,  as  we  often  want  to  know  both  cultivated  plants  and 
weeds  as  soon  as  they  are  up. 

154.  Plants  which  have  two  seed  leaves  or  cotyledons 
are  called  Dycoteledonous  (from  two  Greek  words,  dis 
and  cotyledon^  meaning  two-seed-leaved.)  In  plants  of 
this  kind  there  appears,  between  the  seed  leaves,  as  soon 
as  the  plant  is  up,  a  little  bud  of  unopened  leaves  called 

155.  The  Plumule.  This  soon  begins  to  stretch  upwards, 
bearing  on  its  summit  one  or  two  minute  leaves  nearly 


MONOCOTYLEDONS. — PARTS   OF   A   TREE.  49 

of  the  usual  shape.  These  enlarge  and  expand,  and 
from  their  axil  or  inner  angle,  appear  one  or  two  other, 
ordinary  leaves,  which,  with  the  new  joint  of  the  stem, 
rise  and  expand  in  like  manner. 

156.  But  all  plants  do  not  have  two  seed  leaves.  A 
kernel  of  maize  or  of  wheat  has  only  one  cotyledon. 
This  is  also  true  of  all  the  grains  and  grasses  and  of  some 
other  plants.  Such  plants  are  named  Monocotyledonous 
Plants,  (plants  with  one  seed  leaf.)  A  plant  of  this  kind 
comes  up  with  one  single  leaf  rolled  together,  as  may  be 
seen  in  the  case  of  Indian  corn  or  common  wheat.  When 
this  leaf  is  somewhat  expanded,  another  leaf  appears 
within  it,  growing  from  a  second  joint  in  the  stem.  From 
each  successive  joint  grows  one  leaf,  till  the  corn-stalk  or 
grass-stem  is  complete. 

157.  The  stem  of  a  tree  has  external  and  internal 
organs.  The  external  are  the  trunk,  the  boughs,  limbs 
or  arms,  the  branches,  the  branchlets,  the  spray,  and  the 
shoots  or  twigs. 

The  truyik  is  the  main  body  of  a  tree.  It  begins  at  the 
collar,  and,  after  rising  to  a  greater  or  lesser  height, 
divides  into  branches  or  ramifications.  All  the  divisions, 
large  and  small,  are  called  branches  or  boughs.  The 
largest  are  called  also  limbs  or  arms.  A  division  of  a 
branch  is  called  a  branchlet ;  and  all  the  smallest  divis- 
ions together  are  called  the  spray.  Shoots  or  tivigs  are, 
properly,  those  of  not  over  one  year's  growth. 

158.  A  shoot  begins  in  the  spring  to  grow  from  a  bud 
at  the  end  of  a  branch  called  a  terminal  bud,  or  from  an 
axillary  bud,  or  one  in  the  axil  of  last  year's  leaf,  that  is, 
the  angle  above  the  leaf,  between  it  and  the  stem. 

159.  The  internal  organs  are  the  inner  bark,  in  several 
layers,  the  alburnum  or  sap-wood,  the  heart-wood,  the 
pith,  &c. 


60  OF   PLANTS. 

160.  The  usual  course  with  plants  is  to  grow  up,  bear 
leaves  and  flowers  and  finally  fruits,  and  then,  if  they  are 
plants  of  a  single  year,  to  die  ;  if  plants  of  two  years,  to 
die  down  to  the  ground ;  if  plants  of  many  years,  with 
woody  stems,  to  shed  their  fruit  and  leaves,  after  having 
formed  buds,  out  of  which  shall  grow  the  leaves,  flowers 
and  fruit  of  the  next  year.  Those  which  die  at  the  end 
of  one  season,  like  wheat  and  Indian  corn,  are  called 
annual  plants.  Those  that  live  only  two  years,  like  beets, 
carrots  and  most  other  garden  vegetables,  are  biennial; 
those  that  live  many  years,  like  shrubs  and  trees,  are  per- 
ennial plants. 

161.  It  sometimes  happens  with  different  kinds  of  cul- 
tivated grains,  and  some  other  plants,  that  the  plant  dies 
and  falls  before  the  seed  is  quite  ripe.  Foreseeing  this, 
the  husbandman  reaps  or  mows  grains  and  grasses  before 
the  seed  is  ripe,  dries  them  in  the  sun  and  air,  and  leaves 
them,  in  sheaves  or  stacks,  completely  to  ripen  their  seeds. 
He  thus  saves  many  grains  and  seeds  which  would  other- 
wise fall  upon  the  ground  and  be  lost. 

162.  As  the  kinds  of  plants  are  almost  innumerable, 
they  must  be  arranged  in  divisions,  classes  and  families, 
so  that  they  may  be  studied  and  recognized.  How  are 
they  classed  ?  All  plants  with  flowers  belong  to  one  or 
the  other  of  the  two  great  classes  just  now  mentioned, 
Monocotyledonous  and  Dicotyledonous. 

163.  Botanists,  since  the  time  of  Linneus,  until  recent- 
ly, have  followed  him  in  dividing  plants  into  classes  and 
orders,  made  with  reference  to  the  number  and  situation 
of  the  stamens  and  pistils.  This  is  called  the  Artificial 
system  of  Linneus. 

164.  Plants  are  now  best  divided  into  natural  families^ 
according  to  the  resemblance  or  analogy  of  all  their  organs. 


NATURAL    FAMILIES. — GENUS. SPECIES.  51 

All  those  which  seem  to  be  made  upon  the  same  plan, 
with  similar  stems,  leaves,  flowers  and  fruit,  arc  said  to 
belong  to  the  same  Natural  Family.  Thus  all  the  oaks, 
chestnuts,  beeches,  and  hazel  nuts,  belong  to  the  Oak 
Family,  because,  while  they  resemble  each  other  in  gene- 
ral appearance,  in  the  structure  of  their  flowers  and  fruit 
they  are  still  more  strikingly  alike. 

165.  Plants  are  still  farther  divided  into  genera  and 
species.  A  genus  is  a  subdivision  of  a  family,  and  a 
species,  a  subdivision  of  a  genus.  The  oak  family,  for 
example,  is  divided  into  the  genera,  oak,  beech,  chestnut, 
hornbeam,  hop-hornbeam  and  hazel.  The  genus  oak  is 
subdivided  into  white  oak,  red,  black,  post,  over-cup,  live, 
willow,  and  many  other  species.  Speaking  of  a  black  oak, 
we  should  say ;  it  belongs  to  the  Class  Dicotyledonous 
Plants,  to  the  Oak  Family,  to  the  genus  Oak  or  Quercus, 
and  to  the  species  Black  Oak,  or  Quercus  Tinctoria. 

166.  An  example  will  show  of  what  practical  use  these 
divisions  and  subdivisions  are.  I  find  a  grass  which  I 
suspect  to  be  Common  Hair  Grass ;  I  wish  to  know  cer- 
tainly ;  and  turn  to  a  volume  (Gray's  Manual  of  Botany) 
which  contains  a  description  of  every  plant  in  New  Eng- 
land. The  first  part  of  the  volume  is  occupied  with  dico- 
tyledonous plants.  I  find  the  description  of  monocotyle- 
donous  plants,  to  which  I  know  grass  belongs,  beginning 
on  the  426th  page.  Not  desiring  to  read  the  whole  of 
158  pages,  I  look  for  the  Grass  Family,  and  find  it  to  be 
the  134th  family,  and  on  the  535tli  page.  This  family,  I 
find,  contains  Qb  genera.  After  some  examination  of  a 
table,  I  find  that  the  47th  genus  of  grasses  is  Hair  Grass, 
( J.zVa.)  Carefully  reading  the  description  of  the  genus, 
in  six  lines,  and  of  the  first  species,  QAira  flexuosa,^  in 
four,  I  find  that  the  plant  I  have  found  belongs  to  it,  and 


52 


OF   PLANTS. 


is,  really,  Common  Hair  Grass.  Thus,  if  I  understand 
the  language  of  botany,  I  can  find,  in  a  few  minutes,  by 
means  of  these  divisions  and  subdivisions,  what  I  should 
otherwise  have  to  read  a  volume  through  to  find. 

Besides,  when  I  have  studied  one  plant  of  a  family  and 
know  all  about  it,  I  find  I  thereby  already  know  a  good 
deal  about  every  other  plant  of  the  same  family. 

167.  It  will  be  useful  to  the  farmer  to  know  the  names 
of  some  of  the  natural  families  to  which  the  more  impor- 
tant cultivated  plants  belong. 

All  the  kinds  of  pea,  bean,  tare,  vetch,  clover,  lucerne, 
&c.,  with  flowers  more  or  'less  resembling  a  butterfly, 
(^papilionaceous^)  belong  to  the  Rilse  Family,  pod-bearing 
or  leguminous  vegetables.  The  seeds  of  all  these  are 
nutritious  to  man,  and,  with  their  leaves  and  stems,  are  of 
great  value  to  the  domestic  animals. 

168.  The  cabbage,  turnip,  radish,  mustard,  pepper- 
grass,  water-cress,  charlock,  &c.,  belong  to  the  Cress  or 
Cruciferous,  (cross-bearing,)  Family,  so  called  because 
their  flower-leaves  form  a  cross.  To  the  same  belong 
many  plants  cultivated  for  the  beauty  of  their  flowers, 
stock,  wall-flower,  rocket,  sweet  alyssum,  candy  tuft,  &c. 

169.  Flax  belongs  to  the  Flax  Family,  valuable  in  the 
arts. 

170.  The  roses,  peaches,  apricots,  plums,  cherries,  haw- 
thorns, apples,  pears,  quinces,  as  well  as  brambles,  straw- 
berries and  many  other  plants,  with  flowers  which  are  like 
a  little  rose,  belong  to  the  Rose  Family.  The  fruits  of  all 
these  plants  are  wholesome ;  many  of  them,  very  delicious. 

171.  Cucumbers,  squashes,  pumpkins,  and  melons  be- 
long to  the  Gourd  Family,  with  some  exceptions,  an  inno- 
cent and  valuable  family. 


NATURAL    FAMILIES.  b^ 

172.  Currants  and  gooseberries,  both  cultivated  and 
wild,  belong  to  the  Currant  Family,  whose  fruits  are 
healthy  and  often  medicinal. 

173.  The  carrot,  parsnip,  caraway,  celery,  parsley, 
coriander  and  others  belong  to  the  Parsley  Family,  Umbel- 
liferce,  (umbel  or  umbrella-bearing,)  so  valuable  for  their 
roots  or  their  seeds. 

174.  The  sunflower,  Jerusalem  artichoke,  succory,  sal- 
sify, dandelion,  lettuce,  daisy,  mayweed,  chamomile,  aster, 
golden-rod,  thistle,  everlasting,  and  many  others,  belong 
to  the  Sunflower  or  Composite  Family. 

175.  Sage,  mint,  sweet  basil,  lavender,  pennyroyal, 
balm,  catnip,  hyssop,  summer  savory,  marjoram,  thyme, 
motherwort,  horse-mint,  spear-mint,  self-heal,  and  many 
other  herbs,  belong  to  the  Sage  or  Mint  Family,  friendly, 
soothing,  and  pleasant  to  man. 

176.  The  sweet  potato,  morning  glory,  convolvulus,  and 
others,  to  the  Convolvulus  Family,  a  suspected  race,  whose 
roots  are,  notwithstanding,  sometimes  of  gTcat  value. 

177.  The  tomato,  potato,  capsicum,  petunia,  stramo- 
nium, henbane,  tobacco,  &c.,  belong  to  a  very  poisonous 
family,  called  the  Night-shade  Family.  The  root  even  of 
the  useful  potato  retains  some  of  the  characteristic  poison. 
This  poison  may  always  be  boiled  away.  A  potato  should 
therefore  be  so  cooked  as  to  be  mealy.  The  waxy  appear- 
ance shows  that  some  of  the  poison  is  still  present. 

178.  The  lilac,  privet,  fringe-tree  and  ash  belong  to  the 
Olive  Family. 

179.  All  the  whortleberries,  blueberries,  cranberries, 
the  checkerberry.  May  flower,  Kalmias  or  American  laurels, 
azaleas,  and  many  others,  belong  to  the  Heath  Family.  Of 
these  many  are  wholesome,  some  doubtful,  some  poisonous. 


54  OF   PLANTS. 

180.  The  beet,  pigweed,  or  goosefoot,  oraclie,  spinach, 
<fec.,  to  the  Goosefoot  Family,  a  useful  but  sometimes 
troublesome  tribe. 

181.  Buckwheat,  rhubarb,  sorrel,  dock,  and  knotweed, 
belong  to  the  Buckwheat  Family,  Polygonacece^  some  of 
which  are  pleasant  as  food  or  as  a  salad,  but  some  are 
acrid. 

182.  The  black  walnut,  butternut,  English  walnut,  and 
the  hickories,  belong  to  the  Walnut  Family,  which  fur- 
nishes us  with  wholesome  and  delicious  nuts,  and  wood 
of  great  value. 

183.  The  birches  and  alders  belong  to  the  Birch  Family ; 

184.  The  willows  and  poplars  to  the  Willow  Family. 

185.  The  pines,  the  larch,  the  fir,  cypress,  arbor  vitae, 
juniper,  yew,  white  cedar,  red  cedar,  spruce  and  hemlock 
belong  to  the  Pine  Family,  of  great  value  to  builders. 

All  the  above  and  many  other  families  belong  to  the 
Dicotyledons. 

186.  The  following  belong  to  the  class  of  Monocotyledons. 
The  lilies,  asparagus,  hyacinth,  crown-imperial,  onion, 
garlic,  and  many  others,  belong  to  the  Lily  Family. 

187.  Narcissus,  amaryllis,  tuberose,  snowdrop,  &c.,  to 
the  Amaryllis  Family,  valued  for  its  beauty,  but  also 
furnishing  food. 

188.  Iris,  crocus,  cornflag,  tiger-flower  and  blue-eyed 
grass,  to  the  Iris  Family.  This  and  the  next  family 
minister  to  our  love  of  beauty. 

189.  Lady's  slipper  and  the  orchises  belong  to  the 
Orchis  Family; 

190.  The  rushes  to  the  Rush  Family; 

191.  The  sedges  to  the  Sedge  Family,  good  for  the 
basket  maker  and  the  thatcher. 


MOSSES. LICHENS. TREES. SHRUBS.  5^ 

192.  All  the  grasses,  all  kinds  of  grain  of  which  meal 
or  flour  is  made,  called  the  cereal  grains,  such  as  wheat, 
barley,  rye,  oats,  rice,  maize  or  Indian  corn,  and  also  the 
sugar-cane,  broom-corn  and  millet,  belong  to  the  Grass 
Family,  the  most  friendly  of  all  to  the  family  of  man. 

193.  The  Mosses  are  low  plants  with  many  leaves  and 
a  peculiar  fruit,  like  bird-wheat. 

194.  Lichens  are  the  thin  crust-like  plants  which  we 
see  covering  the  surface  of  rocks,  trunks  of  old  trees,  &c.* 

195.  The  difference  between  a  tree,  a  shrub,  and  an 
undershrub,  is  not  precisely  marked.  A  tree  is  taller 
than  a  shrub.  Most  of  the  oaks  are  trees ;  but  two  of 
those  growing  in  New  England  are  shrubs.  Most  shrubs 
throw  out  branches  very  near  the  ground,  but  some,  the 
sweet  fern,  for  example,  usually  do  not.  Under  shrubs 
are  very  low  shrubs,  like  the  low  blueberries,  cranberries, 
and  pigeon  plums,  checkerberry,  and  May  flower. 

196.  For  the  cultivation  or  planting  of  perennial 
plants,  the  soil  must  be  stirred  as  deeply  as  can  well  be 
done.  Annual  plants  do  not  throw  down  their  roots  so 
far  into  the  earth,  and  therefore  do  not  absolutely  require 
so  deep  cultivation.  But  most  of  them  repay  the  expense 
and  trouble  of  deep  ploughing ;  and  annual  plants, 
having  but  a  short  time  to  grow,  must  be  supplied  with 
a  great  abundance  of  suitable  food. 

197.  Some  plants  are  cultivated  on  account  of  the  value 
of  their  seeds,  roots  or  fruits,  as  food  for  man.  These 
are  called  alimentary.     Others  are  cultivated  as  food  for 

*  For  full  and  exact  information  upon  the  whole  subject  of  plants,  their 
growth,  structure,  names  and  properties,  study  a  delightful  little  book  by  Prof. 
Asa  Gray,  called  How  Plants  Grow.  For  still  fuller  information,  study  Gray's 
Lesso>;s  on  Botany.  For  the  fullest  and  most  philosophical  information  to  ba 
found  in  any  one  volume  in  our  or  any  other  language,  study  Gray's  Steuctural 
and  Systematic  Botany. 


5^  OF   PLANTS. 

other  animals,  and  may  be  called  forage  plants ;  others, 
to  yield  materials  for  use  in  the  arts,  to  furnish  oil,  sugar, 
dyes,  &c. 

198.  Of  the  origin  of  some  of  the  cultivated  plants 
very  little  is  known.  Wheat  is  not  now  found  in  a 
wild  state ;  and  the  same  is  true  of  most  of  the  cereal 
plants.  Indian  corn  is  known  to  be  a  native  of  America, 
and  is  thought  to  have  been  first  carried  hence  to  the 
Eastern  continent. 

199.  Those  cultivated  plants  w^liich  are  to  be  found  in 
a  wild  state,  have  been  greatly  improved  by  cultivation, 
especially  by  giving  them  a  full  supply  of  all  the  food 
they  need.  The  wild  carrot  has  a  hard,  slender  root, 
containing  very  little  nourishment.  The  cabbage  found 
wild  on  the  coast  of  France  is  a  small,  sharp-tasted  plant, 
without  any  of  the  excellent  qualities  possessed  by  the 
different  sorts  of  the  cultivated  cabbage. 

The  potato,  which  is  found  growing  spontaneously  in 
the  mountains  of  Peru,  and  in  other  parts  of  America, 
has  there  green,  bitter,  unwholesome  tubers,  no  larger 
than  a  chestnut. 

The  most  striking  improvements  have  been  made  by 
the  arts  of  cultivation,  by  richness  of  soil  and  abundance 
of  food,  in  the  fruit  of  the  apple  tree.  The  original  tree 
from  which  all  the  others  have  been  derived,  is  by  some 
persons  supposed  to  be  the  crab-apple  tree,  whose  fruit  is 
very  small  and  very  sour. 

200.  The  size,  sweetness  and  other  excellent  qualities 
of  most  cultivated  plants  are  thus  owing  in  a  great  degree 
to  the  art  and  care  of  the  gardener  and  the  husbandman, 
and  would  lose  those  qualities  if  they  were  long  suffered 
to  remain  neglected, — left  to  themselves. 


BENEFITS    OF   CULTIVATION.  5< 

The  same  seems  to  be  true  of  all  the  animals  which 
are  subject  to  man.  Their  most  valuable  qualities  have 
been,  in  a  great  degree,  produced  by  the  intelligent  care 
of  men.  The  same  is  true  of  man  himself.  Children 
suifered  to  remain  uncared  for  and  neglected, — left  to 
themselves, — are  likely  to  grow  up  in  a  condition  little 
better  than  that  of  savages. 


CHAPTER    YII. 

ELEMENTS    OF   PLANTS. 

201.  The  chemists  have  found,  by  carefid  examination, 
with  the  help  of  the  microscope,  that  plant-cells  are  never 
formed  except  in  a  fluid  containing  oxygen,  carbon, 
hydrogen  and  nitrogen.  These  then  are  the  elements  of 
which  all  parts  of  all  plants  are  composed. 

Of  these,  oxygen  and  carbon  are  obtained  from  car- 
bonic acid,  and  hydrogen  and  nitrogen  from  ammonia ; 
and  both  carbonic  acid  and  ammonia  are  always  found 
in  the  atmosphere,  and  are  taken  in  by  the  leaves,  or  are 
dissolved  by  the  rain  falling  through  the  air,  and  carried 
into  the  earth,  where  they  are  absorbed  by  the  soil,  and 
hence  taken  up  by  the  roots. 

It  may  also  be  that  the  oxygen  and  hydrogen  are 
furnished  by  water,  and  nitrogen  as  well  as  oxygen  by 
the  nitric  acid  sometimes  found  in  the  air,  and  dissolved 
and  brought  down  by  rain. 

202.  The  simplest  plant,  consisting  of  only  a  single 
cell,  must  have  the  power  of  decomposing  carbonic  acid, 
ammonia,  nitric  acid,  and  perhaps  water. 


58  ELEMENTS    OF   PLANTS. 

203.  That  which  causes  water,  and,  with  it,  these  three 
gases,  to  enter  the  plant-cell,  is  called  the  Osmotic  Power. 

An  experiment  which  any  body  can  make,  shows  its 
action.  Let  some  sugared  water,  in  a  tube  closed  below 
with  a  film  of  bladder  tied  across  the  end,  and  open 
above,  be  suspended  in  a  vessel  of  pure  water.  The 
liquid  in  the  tube  is  soon  seen  to  increase  by  the  passage 
of  the  pure  water  upwards  through  the  film.  At  the 
same  time,  some  of  the  sugared  water  passes  through  the 
film  downwards  into  the  vessel.  The  tube  will  soon  be 
full  and  flow  over  into  the  vessel,  and  the  double  action 
will  continue  till  the  liquids  inside  the  tube  and  outside 
are  of  the  same  sweetness  and  density. 

The  passage  of  the  fluid  from  without  inwards  is  called 
endosmose ;  that  from  within  outwards,  exosmose. 

Two  gases,  of  different  density,  separated  by  a  film, 
will,  in  the  same  manner,  pass  through  it  and  mingle. 

It  is  by  this  power  that  the  various  substances  that 
enter  a  plant  not  only  pass  into  the  cells  but  also  from 
cell  to  cell,  through  all  parts  of  a  plant.  It  is  by  this, 
perhaps,  that  the  gases  find  entrance  through  the  leaves 
and  the  tender  bark  of  recent  twigs.  It  is  by  the  same 
power  that  fluids  are  thought  to  pass  from  cell  to  cell, 
through  membrane  after  membrane,  in  the  bodies  of 
animals. 

204.  Every  part  of  a  plant,  even  the  solid  wood,  con- 
tains Water,  not  always  in  a  fluid  state,  but  in  such  a 
state  that  the  chemist  can  separate  water,  or  the  elements 
of  water,  even  from  the  dryest  wood  or  bark.  Water 
must  therefore  be  supplied  to  growing  plants  in  abun- 
dance, according  to  the  nature  of  the  plant  and  the  season 
of  the  year.  Without  it,  in  some  form,  no  plant  can 
grow. 


CARBONIC    ACID. AMMONIA.  59 

205.  Carbonic  Acid  is  the  most  indispensable  and 
abundant  article  in  the  food  of  all  plants.  It  enters  the 
plant  dissolved  in  water,  and  either  remains  in  that  state, 
or  the  vital  action  of  the  plant,  in  the  light  of  the  sun, 
decomposes  the  acid,  and  throws  back  most  of  the  oxygen 
into  the  atmosphere ;  but  retains  a  portion  which  per- 
forms important  offices ;  and  also  retains  the  carbon. 
This  forms  the  solid  parts  of  every  plant.  The  walls 
of  the  cells,  the  wood,  the  frame-work  of  the  leaves  and 
of  every  other  part,  are  made  of  carbon,  together  with 
oxygen  and  hydrogen  in  the  proportions  in  which  they 
form  water. 

206.  Hardly  less  important  to  the  nourishment  of 
plants  is  Ammonia.  This  is  a  gas  of  a  very  pungent 
odor  and  burning  taste,  which,  when  absorbed  by  water, 
forms  what  is  commonly  called  spirits  of  hartshorn.  It 
has  a  great  attraction  for  carbonic  acid,  with  which  it 
combines  and  forms  carbonate  of  ammonia,  popularly 
called   smelling'  salts. 

Ammonia  is  composed  of  hydrogen  and  nitrogen  ;  and 
as  both  these  substances  are  always  found  in  living  plant- 
cells,  and  must  be  essential  to  the  life  and  growth  of  these 
cells,  not  less  essential  is  ammonia,  or  some  other  source 
of  nitrogen,  such  as  nitric  acid. 

207.  Carbonic  acid,  ammonia,  nitric  acid  and  water, 
obtained  thus  from  the  atmosphere,  are  the  atmospheric 
food  of  plants,  and  the  four  simple  elements  which  they 
contain,  are  the  only  ones  always  found  in  every  plant, 
and  therefore  considered  absolutely  essential. 

208.  From  the  fact  that  these  essential  elements  are 
derived  from  the  atmosphere  may  be  understood  the 
possibility   of  the   growth  of  air-plants,   which   flourish 

6* 


60  ELEMENTS   OF   PLANTS. 

without  any  immediate  connection  with  the  earth,  and 
drink  in  all  their  food  from  the  air. 

209.  The  charcoal  in  plants  is  never  found  perfectly 
pure.  Diamond  is  pure  carbon.  In  plants  it  is  always 
combined  with  something  else.  By  charring,  that  is, 
exposing  wood  or  other  vegetable  substance  to  great  heat, 
out  of  the  reach  of  the  open  air,  all  the  atmospheric 
portions  are  consumed,  or,  to  speak  more  properly,  turned 
into  vapor  and  gases,  and  driven  off,  and  a  perfect  skeleton 
of  charcoal,  showing  all  the  minutest  parts  of  the  structure 
of  the  plant,  is  left. 

210.  In  peat,  which  is  the  woody  substance  often  found 
under  the  surface  in  swamps,  and  also  in  anthracite  and 
bituminous  coal,  which  are  the  remains  of  the  vegetation 
of  former  ages,  every  thing  in  the  structure  of  the  plants, 
of  which  these  substances  are  formed,  is  often  so  com- 
pletely retained,  that  from  them  the  family,  and  even  the 
genus  and  species  of  the  plant  may  be  ascertained. 

211.  By  the  process  of  charring,  every  thing  except 
the  carbon  is  not  consumed.  Indeed  nothing  is  consumed; 
but  those  portions  capable  of  assuming  a  gaseous  form 
are  driven  off.  By  carefully  burning,  in  air,  the  charcoal 
left,  the  carbon  combines  with  the  oxygen  of  the  air  and 
flies  off  in  the  state  of  invisible  carbonic  acid,  a  portion 
of  water  which  has  still  adhered  to  the  charcoal  is  turned 
into  vapor,  and  a  greater  or  less  amount  of  ashes  is  left. 

212.  All  those  elements  which  thus  assume  a  gaseous 
form  and  fly  off  into  the  atmosphere,  as  smoke,  vapor  or 
gas,  in  these  two  kinds  of  burning  or  combustion,  are 
often  called  for  that  reason,  the  combustible,  or,  more 
properly,  the  atmospheric  elements.  They  are  oxygen, 
hydrogen,  carbon,  and  nitrogen,  and   their  compounds, 


ASHES. SULPHUR. LIME. PHOSPHORUS.       61 

water  in  the  state  of  vapor,  ammonia,  carbonic  acid  and 
some  others. 

Those  that  are  left  in  the  Ashes  are  the  incombustible 
elements,  or  the  mineral  elements.  In  the  ashes  of  every 
plant  is  found  a  very  considerable  number  of  mineral 
constituents.  But  the  ashes  of  plants  of  particular  families 
are  often  remarkable  for  the  amount  of  particular  elements 
contained  in  them. 

213.  The  ashes  of  radishes,  mustard,  and  other  plants 
of  the  Cniciferoiis  Family^  particularly  of  the  seeds, 
contain  Sulphur,  or  brimstone,  in  the  state  of  sulphuric 
acid,  combined  usually  with  some  other  substance. 

214.  In  the  ashes  of  pod-bearing  or  leguminous  plants, 
such  as  peas  and  beans,  and  other  plants  of  the  Pulse 
Family,  particularly  clover,  sulphuric  acid  in  composition 
with  lime,  or  Sulphate  of  Lime,  is  found. 

Lime  is  a  compound  of  a  metal  called  calcium,  with 
oxygen ;  so  that  sulphate  of  lime  is  made  up  of  sulphur, 
oxygen  and  calcium.  It  is  commonly  called  gypsum,  or 
plaster  of  Paris. 

215.  In  the  ashes  of  kernels  of  wheat  or  other  grain, 
as  well  as  of  many  other  kinds  of  seed,  is  found  a  large 
quantity  of  a  salt  called  phosphate  of  lime.  This  is  a 
compound  of  lime  and  phosphoric  acid,  which  is  itself 
composed  of  oxygen  and  a  very  curious  substance  called 

Phosphorus.  This  is  a  soft,  translucent,  poisonous  solid, 
looking  like  wax,  turning  yellowish  when  exposed  to  light, 
of  a  peculiar  smell,  and  called  phosphorus,  (light  bearer,) 
from  shining  in  the  dark.  It  has  so  violent  a  tendency 
to  combine  with  the  oxygen  of  the  air,  and  burn,  that  it 
must  be  kept  under  water.  A  very  little  of  it  mixed  with 
other  substances  and  applied  to  the  end  of  a  bit  of  wood, 
gives  that  readiness  to  take  fire  which  belongs  to  phos- 


62  ELEMENTS   OF   PLANTS. 

phorus  matches,  commonly  called  lucifer  or  friction 
matches,  which  a  little  rubbing  produces  heat  enough  to 
set  on  fire. 

Phosphate  of  lime  is  found  not  only  in  the  seeds  of 
very  many  plants,  especially  those  of  which  bread  is 
made,  but  in  all  plants,  and  in  the  bones  of  men  and 
other  animals,  whence  it  is  called  bone-earth. 

216.  The  ashes  of  all  kinds  of  straw  and  grass,  of  the 
bamboo  cane,  and  of  the  scouring  rush,  consist,  in  a  very 
large  degree,  of  silex  or  silica;  and  all  these  plants  owe 
the  stiffness  and  hardness  of  their  stems  to  the  silica 
contained  in  them. 

Silica  is  oxygen  combined  with  a  metal-like  substance 
called  silicon.  AVhen  perfectly  pure,  silica  is  a  white, 
gritty  powder,  without  taste  or  smell.  It  is  the  substance 
of  which  quartz,  rock-crystal  and  flint  are  composed. 
Though  wholly  unlike,  in  appearance,  to  the  other  acids, 
it  is  yet  an  acid,  and  combines  with  the  oxides  of  many 
of  the  metals  to  form  silicates,  and,  in  these  forms, 
constitutes  a  very  large  portion  of  all  rocks  and  soils. 

217.  In  the  ashes  of  trees  and  other  woody  plants,  as 
well  as  in  most  other  ashes,  potash  is  found.  If  wood 
ashes  be  leached,  that '  is,  if  hot  water  be  poured  upon 
them,  it  will,  in  a  short  time,  dissolve  the  potash  in  the 
ashes.  The  dark-colored,  strong  lye,  thus  obtained,  boiled 
with  oil  or  fat,  forms  common  soft  soap. 

Lye,  boiled  away,  in  a  pot,  without  fat,  leaves  a  dirty 
looking  substance  called  potash.  This,  when  somewhat 
purified,  is  called  pearlash. 

218.  This  common  Potash  is  the  carbonate  of  potassa, 
a  compound  of  carbonic  acid  and  potassa,  which  is,  itself, 
a  compound  of  oxygen  with  a  metal  called  potassium. 
This  metal  has  the  lustre  of  silver,  but  is  soft,  and  so  light 


ALKALIES. — POTASH. SODA.  68 

as  to  float  on  water.  So  great  is  the  attraction  between 
potassium  and  oxygen,  that  it  decomposes  the  water  on 
which  it  floats,  unites  with  a  portion  of  its  oxygen,  exhib- 
iting the  singular  appearance  of  a  little  fire  on  the  water, 
and  forms  potassa. 

219.  In  the  ashes  of  kelp  and  of  other  plants  growing 
in  the  sea,  and  of  some  of  those  growing  near  the  sea, 
instead  of  potash,  Soda  is  found,  in  the  state  of  carbonate 
of  Sodium,  a  light  metal  somewhat  similar  to  potassium, 
and  having  nearly  the  same  violent  affinity  for  oxygen, 
so  as  to  take  fire  when  placed  on  hot  water. 

220.  Alkali.  The  ashes  of  sea  plants  have  long  been  of 
value  in  commerce,  from  being  used  in  the  manufacture 
of  hard  soap,  and  also  of  glass.  These  soda  ashes  are 
called,  in  Spain,  alkali,  (Arabic  «/,  the,  kali^  ashes,)  which 
name  has  thus  been  given  to  soda^  and  thence  to  j)otash 
and  ammonia,  all  which  are  called  alkalies ;  and  all  three 
have  very  similar  properties.  They  have  a  bitter,  acrid 
and  burning  taste,  and  the  power  of  changing  vegetable 
blue  colors  to  green,  and  pink  to  blue. 

221.  They  have  also  the  remarkable  property  of  uniting 
with  the  acids,  and  thereby  losing  all  their  own  peculiar 
properties,  and  destroying  those  of  the  acids.  Sulphuric 
acid,  for  example,  has  the  extreme  sourness  and  corrosive 
power  with  the  other  properties  of  the  acids.  Pure  soda 
has  the  alkaline  properties  just  mentioned.  But  when 
sulphuric  acid  is  poured  upon  soda,  it  forms  a  new  sub- 
stance, sulphate  of  soda,  or  Glauber's  salts,  which  is  called 
a  neutral  salt ;  a  salt,  because  it  looks  very  much  like 
common  table  salt,  and  neutral,  because  it  has  neither 
the  properties  of  an  acid  nor  those  of  an  alkali. 

It  is  in  the  state  of  neutral  salts  that  most  of  the 
mineral  substances  enter  into  the  composition  of  plants. 


64  ELEMENTS    OP   PLANTS. 

222.  The  ashes  of  asparagus,  and  of  other  plants  which 
grow  naturally  near  the  sea,  contain  a  large  portion  of 
common  salt,  in  very  minute,  regular,  cubical  particles, 
called  crystals.  Now  salt  is  composed  of  a  gas  called 
chlorine ,  smd  of  the  metal  sodium^  and  this  salt, — common 
table  salt, — is  called  by  the  chemists  Chloride  of  Sodium. 
And  it  is  very  remarkable  that  this  pleasant  and  wholesome 
article  in  our  food  should  be  composed  of  a  substance  so 
ready  to  take  fire  as  sodium  and  another  like 

223.  Chlorine.  This  is  a  suffocating  and  poisonous  gas, 
of  a  greenish  color,  whence  its  name,  (chloros,  Greek  for 
green,)  which  has  a  great  attraction  for  foul  air  and  for 
coloring  substances,  and  is  therefore  employed  for  disin- 
fecting, or  drawing  off  foul  air,  and  for  bleaching,  or 
making  things  white. 

224.  Oxides  of  two  other  metals,  Magnesium  and  Iron,  are 
also  found  in  the  ashes  of  all  plants,  but  commonly 
united  with  some  one  of  the  acids. 

225.  The  oxide  of  magnesium  is  called  Magnesia.  It  is 
a  white,  bitterish  substance,  resembling  flour  in  appear- 
ance, often  used  in  medicine. 

226.  Plants  growing  in  the  sea,  called  sea-weeds, 
such  as  kelp,  oar-weed,  rock-weed,  &c.,  and  those  growing 
on  the  sea-shore,  contain,  in  their  ashes,  salts  of  two  sub- 
stances, called  iodine  and  bromine. 

227.  Iodine  is  a  solid  which  looks  like  black  lead. 
When  heated,  it  throws  up  a  violet  colored  vapor,  whence 
its  name,  from  a  Greek  word,  (i-o-des,)  meaning  violet^ 
colored.  If  a  polished  silver  plate  be  held  over  this  vapor, 
it  becomes  first  of  a  yellowish  color,  then  violet,  then  deep 
blue,  from  the  combination  of  the  iodine  Avith  the  silver. 
This  compound  is  powerfully  acted  upon  by  light,  and 
hence  its  use  in  the  processes  of  the  daguerreotype. 


IODINE. — BROxMINE. — ACIDS.  65 

228.  Iodine  occurs  in  plants  as  iodides,  or  compounds 
of  iodine  with  some  metal,  as,  for  example,  the  iodide  of 
potassium.  Bromine  is  found  in  a  similar  state,  that  is, 
as  bromides. 

229.  Bromine  is  a  heavy,  brownish  liquid,  of  a  suf- 
focating odor.  When  scarcely  perceived,  this  odor  is  not 
unpleasant,  and  this,  with  the  odors  of  iodine  and  of 
chlorine,  forms  probably  the  pleasant  smells  we  perceive 
on  a  sea-beach. 

230.  These  are  the  principal  and  the  most  important 
mineral  substances  found  in  vegetables. 

But  a  metal  called  Aluminum,  which  is  the  basis  of  clay, 
and  also  the  metals  Manganese  and  Copper  are  found, 
very  rarely,  in  the  ashes  of  some  plants. 

231.  Are  all  the  substances  necessary  to  the  growth  of 
a  plant,  of  equal  value  ?  All  are  essential.  If  any  one 
of  the  whole  immber  be  absent,  the  plant  will  not  thrive ; 
but  all  are  not  needed  in  the  same  quantities. 

232.  The  Acids  most  important  in  the  structure  of 
plants  are  carbonic  acid,  sulphuric  acid  and  phosphoric 
acid,  either  by  themselves,  or  united  with  substances  with 
which  they  form  salts,  such  as  carbonates,  sulphates  and 
phosphates.  These  are  found  in  all  plants.  Silicic  acid 
combined  with  the  alkalies  and  with  the  earths  is  also 
essential  to  very  many  plants. 

233.  But  these  are  not  the  only  acids  found  in  plants. 
By  a  peculiar  action  of  the  vital  power  of  particular 
plants,  the  elements  of  carbonic  acid  and  water  form  a 
variety  of  acids  differing  from  carbonic  acid  and  from 
each  other. 

The  acid  which  gives  to  apples  their  characteristic  taste, 
is  called  malic  acid  (Lat.  malum,  an  apple.)  The  acid  of 
oranges  and  lemons  is  citric  acid,  (Lat.  citrus,  an  orange  ;) 


bb  ELEMENTS   OF   PLANTS. 

that  of  wood  sorrel  (oxalis,)  oxalic ;  that  of  grape  vines 
and  grapes,  tartaric  acid. 

234.  All  these  unite  with  the  oxides  of  the  metals 
that  have  been  spoken  of,  and  one  or  more  of  the  salts 
formed  by  the  union  are  found  in  the  cells  or  at  least  in 
the  ashes  of  nearly  all  plants.  The  salts  of  potassa,  for 
example,  are  always  found  in  the  ashes  of  potatoes,  tur- 
nips, the  grape  vine  and  many  others ;  and  none  of  these 
plants  can  flourish  in  a  soil,  however  rich  in  other  respects, 
which  contains  no  potash.  Hence  potatoes,  turnips,  beets, 
and  Indian  corn,  are  sometimes  called  Potash  Plants. 

235.  In  like  manner  oats,  wheat,  barley  and  rye  are 
called  Silica  Plants,  because  the  ashes  of  the  straw  of 
these  plants  are  more  than  half  made  up  of  silica.  And 
because  tobacco,  pea-straw,  clover,  and  potato-tops,  leave 
ashes  of  which  more  than  one  half  is  lime,  these  plants 
are  called  Lime  Plants. 

236.  Phosphates  of  Lime  and  Magnesia,  in  small  quan- 
tities, are  found  in  the  ashes  of  all  common  plants ;  but 
they  form  from  one  half  to  three  fourths  of  the  ashes  of 
wheat,  and  a  very  large  portion  of  the  ashes  of  other 
grains. 

237.  What  then  are  the  most  essential  elements  in  the 
growth  of  plants  ?  All  plants,  without  exception,  require 
for  their  subsistence  and  nutrition,  the  atmospheric  ele- 
ments, oxygen,  nitrogen,  hydrogen,  and  carbon,  and  the 
earthy  elements,  phosphorus,  sulphur,  potash,  lime,  mag- 
nesia, and  iron.  Plants  of  certain  families  require  silica. 
Others  require  common  salt,  soda,  iodides  and  bromides. 

238.  Besides  these,  three  metals,  aluminum,  man- 
ganese, and  copper,  are  found  very  rarely,  as  oxides,  or 
as  salts,  in  the  ashes  of  a  few  plants ;  and,  still  more  rarely, 
Fluorine,  a  powerful   gas,  remarkable   for   itL-   power   to 


MINERAL   FOOD    OF   PLANTS. — CELLULOSE.  67 

corrode  glass,  is  detected  in  the  ashes  of  some  plants.  It 
occurs  in  combination,  as  fluoride  of  calcium^  or  fluor 
Gpar,  in  which  form  it  is  also  found  in  the  teeth  and  bones 
of  animals. 

All  these  earthy  substances  are  called  the  mineral  food 
of  plants. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

ORGANIC    COMPOUNDS   IN   PLANTS. 

239.  Of  the  simple,  elementary  substances  spoken  of  in 
the  last  chapter,  and  their  direct  compounds,  although  they 
are  all  found  in  plants,  none  ever  appear  in  particles  large 
enough  to  be  seen  by  the  naked  eye.  Of  them,  however, 
are  formed  the  substance  and  the  nutritious  and  other 
useful  products  of  the  plants,  called  the  organic  com- 
pounds. 

240.  They  are  so  called,  because  they  are  compounds 
formed  by  the  action  of  the  vital  power  of  the  organized 
being,  a  plant. 

241.  Among  the  most  important  are,  first,  those 
formed  of  carbon,  oxygen,  and  hydrogen  only,  such  as 
Cellulose,  Pectine,  Starch,  Gum,  Sugar,  and  Oil. 

242.  Cellulose,  also  called  wo5dy  fibre,  is  the  cell-mem- 
brane, or  thin  covering  of  the  cells.  When  first  formed,  it 
is  tender,  flexible  and  elastic,  clear  and  transparent.  It  is 
expanded  by  moisture  and  contracted  by  drying.  It  is 
permeable  to  all  fluids,  which  enter  on  one  side  and  pass 
out  on  the  other.     It  is  called  woody  fibre,  because  it 


68  ORGANIC    COMPOUNDS   IN    PLANTS. 

forms   the    substance   of   all   wood,   giving  it   strength, 
hardness  and  elasticity. 

243.  The  pectine  is  so  called,  because,  while  moist, 
it  looks  and  feels  like  common  jelly.  When  dry,  it 
becomes  horny  or  cartilaginous.  Quince  jelly  and  apple 
jelly  are  forms  of  it,  but  mixed  with  the  acids  and  other 
compounds  Avhich  give  them  their  peculiar  taste. 

244.  Every-body  is  familiar  with  the  appearance  of  Starch. 
When  dry,  it  is  somewhat  hard,  and  crumbles  between 
the  fingers.  When  moist,  it  is  somewhat  like  jelly.  It  is 
completely  soluble  in  warm  water,  and,  when  perfectly 
pure,  is  clear  and  transparent.  As  it  dries,  it  is  at  first 
a  trembling  jelly,  but  at  last  becomes  brittle  as  glass. 

Starch  is  found,  already  formed,  in  almost  every  plant 
that  has  been  examined,  particularly  in  the  grains  of  all 
the  cerealia,  in  beans  and  pease,  and  almost  all  seeds,  in 
potatoes  and  all  other  esculent  roots,  and  in  the  pith  of 
many  plants,  as  in  the  sago  palm.  In  arrow-root  it  seems 
to  be  purest.  Starch,  variously  compounded,  but  never 
absolutely  pure,  constitutes  the  most  important,  and  often 
the  only  food  of  two  thirds  of  all  mankind.  It  occurs 
in  small  quantities  in  the  bark  and  newly  formed  wood 
of  many  trees,  in  winter,  whence  the  inhabitants  of  the 
Polar  regions  are  able  to  use  the  bark  of  trees,  when 
baked,  as  bread.  It  is  extracted,  for  use  in  the  arts,  from 
potatoes,  wheat,  and  some  other  substances. 

245 .  Gum  is  the  substance  which  we  often  find  hardened 
in  roundish  masses  on  the  bark  of  cherry  and  peach  trees. 
It  is  in  all  plants ;  in  plants  belonging  to  some  families, 
it  is  found  very  abundantly.  Gum  Arabic  is  a  well-known 
form  of  it.  When  pure,  it  is  clear  and  transparent; 
when  dry,  very  brittle.  It  easily  dissolves  in  Avater  and 
in  weak  acids,  but  not  in  alcohol.     It  is  very  nourishing. 


SUGAR. — VEGETABLE   OILS. — WAX.  60 

and  is  sometimes  used  as  food.     By  the  botanists,  one 
form  of  it  is  called  dextrine. 

246.  Loaf  sugar  is  Sugar  in  a  crystalline  state.  Atten- 
tively examined,  it  is  found  to  be  made  up  of  little  bright 
crystals,  which  reflect  the  light  and  give  the  brilliant  white 
appearance  of  loaf  sugar.  Dissolved  in  water  and  allowed 
to  evaporate  and  harden,  it  becomes  sugar  candy.  Brown 
or  Muscovado  sugar  is  unrefined,  and  contains  other  sub- 
stances which  give  it  its  peculiar  taste.  Sugar  is  nutritious, 
and  is  used,  all  over  the  world,  as  a  sweetener.  It  is  found 
in  every  plant ;  but  in  the  greatest  abundance  in  sugar  cane, 
Indian  corn-stalks,  sorgho,  beet  root  and  carrot,  and  in 
sweet  fruits,  as  the  pear,  and  apple,  and  the  melon. 

247.  Vegetable  OUs.  The  peculiarity  of  the'se  substances 
is  their  leaving  upon  paper  or  linen  a  translucent  spot, 
and  their  refusal  to  mix  with  water.  There  is  perhaps 
no  plant  and  no  part  of  a  plant  which  does  not  contain 
oil.  From  some  plants,  as  from  a  species  of  palm  in 
Africa,  it  is  extracted  in  vast  quantities.  From  many 
seeds  it  may  be  pressed,  as  particularly  from  the  seeds  of 
flax,  when  it  is  called  linseed  oil,  and  from  those  of  the 
turnip,  the  poppy  and  the  sunflower.  A  plant  called 
colza,  which  botanists  suppose  to  be  the  cabbage  in  its 
natural  condition,  is  extensively  cultivated  in  France  for 
the  purpose  of  yielding  oil. 

248.  Wax  is  a  kind  of  solid  oil  which  often  appears  on 
the  surface  of  the  stem,  leaves  or  fruits  of  plants,  and  in 
a  very  remarkable  manner  upon  the  fruit  of  the  candle- 
berry  myrtle.  In  those  parts  of  plants  which  have  a  hoary 
appearance,  as  is  the  case  with  many  kinds  of  plum,  the 
delicate  bluish  bloom  consists  of  a  thin  layer  of  very 
small  wax  granules.  Bees-ioax  is  collected,  perhaps 
formed,  by  bees.  Some  chemists  think  it  is  formed  from 
sugar. 


70  ORGANIC   COMPOUNDS   IN   PLANTS. 

249.  All  these  organic  compounds  are  very  nearly 
related,  and  often  change  from  one  into  another.  Cellu- 
lose may  turn  into  starch,  gum,  or  sugar.  So  may  various 
kinds  of  starch  and  dextrine  be  converted  into  sugar. 
These  substances  appear  to  go  successively  through  all 
these  forms,  from  sugar,  the  most  soluble,  to  cellulose, 
the  most  insoluble.  All  these  substances,  241,  taken  into 
the  animal  system,  are  supposed  to  aid  in  the  process 
of  breathing,  and  keeping  up  the  warmth  of  the  body. 

250.  There  is  another  class  of  substances  found  in 
plants,  of  which  the  cell-walls  are  not  formed,  and  which 
yet  are  essential  to  the  simplest  processes  of  vegetation. 
They  are  composed  of  the  elements  of  water,  of  carbon, 
and  also  of  nitrogen,  to  which  are  sometimes  added  phos- 
phorus and  sulphur.  From  the  nitrogen  contained  in 
them,  they  are  often  called  Nitrogenous  Compounds.  In 
their  simplest  form  they  are  composed  of  the  four  atmos- 
pheric elements  only,  and  are  found  in  a  fluid,  semi-fluid, 
or  solid  state,  within  the  cells  ;  and  without  their  presence 
in  a  liquid  state  no  new  cells  can  be  formed.  From  their 
great  variety  of  appearance,  and  the  readiness  with  which 
they  change,  these  substances  have  been  called  Protein, 
from  the  name  of  an  imaginary  being,  Proteus,  who  was 
fabled  to  assume  every  variety  of  form,  to  conceal  himself. 

251.  Protein,  in  combination  with  sulphur,  forms  casein, 
with  still  more  sulphur  and  a  little  phosphorus,  albumen, 
and  with  more  both  of  sulphur  and  phosphorus,  Gluten 
or  Vegetable  Fibrine.  These  substances  are  of  great 
importance,  and  of  the  highest  interest,  from  the  fact  that 
though  essential  to  the  bodies  of  animals,  constituting 
the  muscles  and  giving  them  strength,  they  are  not, 
according   to   some   chemists,*   formed    in    the    animal 

'  *  Liebig,  and  others. 


CASEIN. — ALBUMEN. — GLUTEN. — CHLOROPHYL.  71 

economy,  but  must  be  taken  into   the   system  already;' 
formed. 

252.  Casein  is  an  essential  ingredient  in  milk  and  in 
cheese,  whence  its  name  (caseus,  Latin,  cheese.) 

253.  Albumen  is  nearly  identical  in  composition  with 
the  white  of  an  egg  (of  which  albumen  is  the  Latin  name) 
and  is  found  in  many  parts  of  the  human  body  and  the 
bodies  of  other  animals.  It  is  always  found  dissolved  in 
the  sap  and  juices  of  living  plants. 

254.  Wheat  contains  from  8  to  25  per  cent,  of  Gluten, 
Lidian  corn  12,  beans  10,  rye  9  to  13,  barley  3  to  6,  oats 
2  to  5,  potatoes  3  to  4,  and  a  little  is  found  in  beets, 
turnips  and  cabbages. 

255.  The  fact  that  wheat  varies  so  much  in  the  gluten 
it  contains  is  one  very  instructive  to  the  farmer.  When 
fed  with  ^the  very  richest  manures,  especially  those  con- 
taining animal  substances,  wheat  not  only  yields  more 
abundantly,  but  the  grain  is  richer  in  this  most  nourish- 
ing element.  For  Animal  Fibrins  is  the  essential  portion 
of  the  fibrous  part  or  muscle  of  the  flesh  of  animals. 

356.  The  elements  of  every  thing  in  the  body  of  a  man 
or  any  otlier  animal  must  have  come  into  the  system  in 
the  water  or  air,  or  in  the  vegetable  and  animal  food 
which  he  has  consumed.  To  exist  in  the  body  of  an 
animal,  they  must  have  been  found  in  the  vegetables  on 
which  it  has  been  nourished,  and,  before  that,  in  the  soil 
out  of  which  the  vegetables  grew,  or  in  the  atmosphere 
by  which  all  have  been  surrounded. 

257.  What  it  is  which  gives  color  to  the  leaves  of  Plants. 
The  green  color  is  owing  to  a  substance  called  Chlorophyl, 
(leaf-green.)  This  is  found  in  the  leaves  and  in  the  bark 
of  the  newly  formed  twigs  of  nearly  all  flowering  plants. 
It  is  composed    of  two    wax-like    substances,    which 


72  ORGANIC  COMPOUNDS  IN  PLANTS. 

constitute  a  green  coloring  matter.  This  green  coloring 
matter  is  formed  mainly  mider  the  direct  action  of  light, 
and  its  depth  of  color  seems  to  depend  upon  the  inten- 
sity of  the  light.  Hence  the  innumerable  shades  of 
green,  from  the  delicate  yellowish  green  of  early  spring 
to  the  deep  greens  of  midsummer  ;  and  hence  the  striking 
changes  in  the  color  of  leaves,  after  some  days  of  cloudy, 
warm  weather,  when  succeeded  by  clear  simshine. 

258.  The  yellow  leaves  in  autumn  contain  proportion- 
ally more  wax  than  the  green  leaves  of  summer,  and  the 
yellow  rinds  of  ripe  fruits  more  than  the  green  rinds  of 
unripe  fruits.  The  rich,  gorgeous  colors  of  the  autumnal 
foliage  have  been  attributed  to  the  action  upon  chlorophyl 
of  various  vegetable  acids  and  alkalies,  under  the  influ- 
ence of  the  sun's  light.     They  are  not  produced  by  frost. 

259.  From  the  roots,  wood,  bark  and  leaves  of  various 
plants  are  extracted  very  many  coloring  substances  used 
in  the  arts.  Certain  plants,  as,  for  example,  the  indigo 
plant  and  woad,  are  cultivated  extensively,  in  some  coun- 
tries, for  this  very  purpose. 

260.  Tannin.  This  is  the  substance  with  which  tan- 
ners convert  the  hides  of  animals  into  leather.  It  is 
found  in  the  bark  of  several  kinds  of  oak,  and  also  of 
hemlock,  spruce  and  some  other  trees  of  the  Pine  Family, 
and  in  the  leaves  of  tea  and  of  some  plants  of  the  Heath 
Family.  It  is  of  a  strong,  astringent  taste,  and  has  this 
remarkable  property  of  converting  the  animal  gelatine 
of  the  skin  into  leather.  Tannin  is  found  often  in  the 
older  wood  and  bark,  and  is  supposed  to  be  formed  by 
the  commencement  of  decay  in  cellulose. 

261.  How  the  vital  principle  in  plants,  with  the  agency 
of  the  osmotic  power  and  chemical  attraction,  forms  the 


ACTION  OF  THE  VESSELS  OF  VEGETABLES.      73 

various  products  which  have  been  spoken  of,  and  innu- 
merable others,  we  can  only  conjecture. 

Some  of  the  imagined  operations  are  strikingly  set 
before  us  in  a  picturesque  passage  which  may  form  a  fit 
conclusion  to  this  chapter. 

"  The  vessels  of  vegetables  have  the  same  wonderful, 
and  seemingly  intelligent  power  of  selection,  that  exists 
in  the  vessels  of  animals.  They  are  thus  enabled  to 
select  from  the  compound  circulating  sap,  what  each  set 
of  vessels  requires,  to  construct  the  tissue  which  each  has 
m  charge.  One  set  selects  materials  for  the  alburnum, 
another  for  the  bark,^  another  for  the  leaf  and  the  leaf- 
bud  ;  another  forms  the  fruit-bud,  and  ultimately  builds 
up  the  fruit.  One  set  constructs  the  woody-fibre,  another 
set  the  starch,  another  the  gum,  another  the  resin,  another 
the  bitter  principle,  another  the  sweet  and  nutritious 
juices,  another  the  poisonous  elements.  One  set  forms 
from  the  sap,  the  coloring  matter  that  blushes  or  glows 
in  the  petals  of  the  flowers,  and  the  coverings  of  the  fruit. 
Another  selects,  atom  by  atom,  the  lime  that  enters  into 
the  composition  of  the  grain  of  wheat ;  another  set 
weaves  the  covering  for  this  same  grain,  from  the  woody 
fibre.  Another  set  deposits  the  fatty  elements,  and 
arranges  them  in  layers,  around  the  starch  and  sugar 
and  lime,  of  which  the  kernel  of  corn  is  built  up.  Thus 
every  tissue  and  every  product  of  vegetable  life  are 
formed  by  innumerable  vessels,  from  the  descending 
sap."* 


*  See  a  beautiful  "Prize   Essay"  upon  Manures,  by  Joseph  Eeynolds, 
M.  D.,  of  Concord,  Mass. 


74  THE   SOIL. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   SOIL. 

262.  Of  the  vast  interior  of  the  earth  nothing  is  known 
with  absolute  certainty.  We  are  acquainted  with  the 
outer  portion,  the  crust,  only ;  and  the  geologists  and 
the  chemists  have  been  studying  that  very  attentively  for 
many  years. 

By  this  careful  and  continuous  study,  the  crust  of  the 
earth,  together  with  the  waters  resting  upon  it  and  the 
atmosphere  enveloping  it,  is  found  to  be  made  up  of  sixty- 
one,  perhaps  sixty-two  or  sixty-three,  elements.  Several 
of  these,  when  pure,  are  gases  ;  but  all  are  found,  usually 
in  combination  one  with  another,  in  a  solid  state.  Several 
of  them  may  possibly  be  hereafter  found  to  be  formed  of 
one  and  the  same  substance. 

263.  All  these  elements,  except  twelve  or  thirteen,  are 
metals,  more  or  less  like  iron,  copper,  lead,  tin,  mercury, 
gold  and  silver.  The  greater  part  of  them  are  found 
only  as  ores^  that  is,  combined  usually  with  oxygen,  or 
with  sulphur,  carbon,  or  something  else,  and  often  look- 
ing like  earths,  which  indeed  they  are.  About  thirty-four 
of  them  are  found  in  very  small  quantities,  and  are 
seldom  seen  except  by  chemists. 

264.  Only  a  few,  as  gold,  silver,  copper,  mercury,  and 
platinum,  are  found  in  their  native  state,  in  tlie  earth, 
in  the  condition  of  purity.  Metallic  masses  and  frag- 
ments of  stone,  called  meteoric  stones,  or  aerolites,  are 
sometimes  seen  to  fall,  and  are  always  supposed  to  have 


GEOLOGY. CHEMISTRY. THE   ROCKS.  75 

fallen,  from  the  sky.  These  are  often  found  upon  or  near 
the  surface,  and  consisting  of  iron  and  two  other  pure 
metals  not  oxidized,  in  the  form  of  a  brilliant,  malleable 
compound.  All  the  rest,  whether  found  at  the  surface 
or  deep  beneath,  are  in  rocks  or  the  fragments  of  rocks. 

265.  The  study  which  searches  into  the  structure  of 
the  earth,  asks  Avhat  the  rocks  are  and  in  what  order  they 
lie,  and  examines  the  curious  remains  of  plants  and  of 
animals  that  are  often  found  in  them,  is  g-eolog-^ ;  and  a 
person  who  pursues  this  study  is  a  geologist. 

The  study  which  searches  into  the  inner  nature  of 
things,  to  find  out  what  they  are,  what  they  are  made  of, 
and  how  they  act  on  each  other  and  on  animals  and 
plants,  is  chemistry.  A  person  who  pursues  this  study, 
with  experiments,  is  a  chemist;  and  the  process  of  search- 
ing, by  experiments,  and  separating  a  compound  sub- 
stance into  its  eleinents,  is  chemical  analysis. 

266.  The  Soil  is  that  part  of  the  ground  which  can  be 
tilled,  which  can  be  reached  and  stirred  by  agricultural 
tools.  It  is  made  up  of  many  different  kinds  of  earth.  Of 
these  the  three  most  important  are  silicious  earth  or  sand, 
argillaceous  earth  or  clay,  and  calcareous  earth  or  that 
made  of  limestone  or  carbonate  of  lime ;  and,  by  the 
mixture  of  these  three,  most  of  the  different  kinds  of  soil 
are  formed. 

267.  The  soil  which  covers  the  surface  of  the  earth 
rests  upon  rocks  lyhig  at  a  greater  or  less  depth  beneath, 
from  the  crumbling  or  disintegration  of  which  the  soil 
and  loose  earth  have  apparently  been  formed. 

The  principal  and  most  important  of  these  rocks  are 
the  following :  first,  Granitic  Rocks,  including  Greenstone 
Rocks ;  second,  Silicious  Rocks ;  third,  Slaty  or  Ai-gilla- 


76  THE    SOIL. 

ceous  Rocks;  fourth,  Pudding-stone  Rocks;  fifth,  LimC' 
stone  or  Calcareous  Rocks.* 

288.  (1.)  The  Granitic  Rocks  get  their  name  from 
Granite,  which  is  a  hard  rock  composed  of  three  minerals 
called  quartz,  felspar  and  mica.  Sienite  is  like  granite, 
but  is  composed  of  quartz,  felspar,  and  hornblende  ;  and 
Greenstone  is  composed  of  felspar  and  hornblende,  with- 
out quartz.  Traprock,  another  very  hard  rock  which  often 
forms  what  seem  to  be  natural  walls,  sometimes  with 
steps  in  their  ends,  is  composed  of  felspar  and  horn- 
blende, with  another  mineral  called  augite.  Gneiss  and 
Mica  Slate,  which  look  and  are  exceedingly  like  granite, 
consist  chiefly  of  mica  and  quartz,  with  felspar ;  and 
Porphyry  is  a  very  hard  rock,  made  up  almost  entirely  of 
felspar. 

269.  Granitic  Rocks,  including  all  those  mentioned 
above,  are  extremely  hard,  and  are  thought  to  be  among 
the  oldest  rocks.  They,  or  the  minerals  of  which  they  are 
made  up,  are  chiefly  composed  of  1,  silex;  2,  alumina; 
3,  lime;  4,  potash;  5,  magnesia;  and  6,  oxide  of  iron; 
and,  by  their  crumbling,  or  disintegration,  form  granitic 
earths. 

270.  Far  the  most  abundant  of  these  six  is  silex  or 
silica,  which,  as  we  have  already  said,  is  a  metal-like  sub- 
stance, silicon,  chemically  united  with  oxygen.  Though 
it  is  not  sour,  it  has  other  properties  of  an  acid,  acts  as 
one,  and  is  called  silicic  acid;  and  the  other  five  sub- 

*  The  teacher  should,  if  possible,  be  furnished  with  a  small  collection  of  speci- 
mens of  rocks  and  of  the  more  important  minerals  found  in  them.  By  means 
of  these  his  instructions  may  be  made  far  more  interesting  and  intelligible  than 
they  possibly  can  be  without.  For  perfect  illustration  of  what  is  taught  in  this 
chapter  not  more  than  twenty  specimens  will  be  required;  and,  by  means  of 
such  a  collection,  the  pupils  may  easily  be  induced  to  make  collections  for  them- 
selves, and  to  become  acquainted  with  the  names  and  qualities  of  all  the  rocks 
in  their  neighborhood. 


SILICA. SILICIOUS   ROCKS.  77 

stances  mentioned  above,  are  usually  combined  with  it  as 
silicates  of  potash,  silicates  of  alumina,  &c. 

When  found  pure,  it  is  called  quartz  or  flint,  and  in 
that  state  is  used  in  the  making  of  glass.  It  is  the  most 
abundant  solid  constituent  of  the  earth's  crust,  forming 
about  five-eighths  of  the  substance  of  the  most  important 
rocks.  Agate,  chalcedony  and  opal,  which  are  hard  and 
almost  precious  stones,  are  nearly  pure  silica.  Though 
so  very  hard,  it  is  rendered  soluble,  and  is  dissolved  by 
the  action  of  the  alcalies  and  their  carbonates. 

271.  Silica  usually  occurs  as  coarse  or  fine  sand,  and 
enters  very  largely  into  the  composition  of  the  soil  of  all 
granitic  regions,  such  as  that  of  the  greater  part  of  the 
New  England  States.  Pure  silicious  sand  is  seldom  found. 
It  is  commonly  mixed  largely  with  grains  of  sand  formed 
by  the  crumbling  of  the  other  ingredients  of  the  rocks. 

272.  (2.)  Silicious  Rocks  or  sand-stones  are  composed 
of  small  grains  of  silex  agglomerated  or  stuck  together, 
and  of  various  colors,  from  white  to  red,  according  to  the 
proportion  of  oxide  of  iron  which  they  contain.  When 
crumbled  into  loose  sand  they  make  the  poorest  possible 
soil. 

A  soil  formed  principally  of  the  sands  coming  from 
these  two  sources,  is  a  loose,  light,  sandy  soil,  readily  pen- 
etrated by  water,  but  not  retaining  it  long,  and  therefore 
liable  to  be  much  affected  by  drought.  It  is  easily  culti- 
vated, but  not  fertile,  especially  when  its  principal 
higredient  is  coarse  silicious  sand.  Its  fertility  and  its 
readiness  to  retain  moisture  and  manures  depend  upon 
its  fineness  and  upon  the  duo  admixture  of  other  ingre- 
dients of  soil,  clay  and  lime,  to  be  spoken  of  presently. 

273.  (3.)  Slaty  .or  Argillaceous  Rocks  are  all  more  or 


78  THE    SOIL. 

less  like  slate,  and,  by  their  crumbling  and  decomposition, 
seem  to  have  given  rise  to  clay  or  argillaceous  earth. 

Clay  is  silicate  of  alumina ;  a  chemical  compound  of 
silicic  acid,  alumina,  and  water.  Clay  usually  contains 
also  silicates  of  potash,  of  soda,  and  of  lime.  It  forms  a 
compact,  fatty  earth,  which  is  soft  to  the  touch,  adheres 
somewhat  closely  to  the  tongue,  and  exhales  a  peculiar 
odor,  which  is  perceived  when  it  or  clay-slate  is  breathed 
upon. 

Pure  clay  is  white ;  but  clay,  as  ordinarily  found,  is 
colored  blue,  brown  or  red,  by  oxides  of  iron.  It  absorbs 
a  great  deal  of  water,  and  parts  with  it  very  reluctantly ; 
and  it  has  a  strong  attraction  for  ammonia  and  for  the 
very  richest  portions  of  manure. 

When  completely  wet,  it  becomes  a  thick  paste,  almost 
impenetrable  to  water  and  to  air,  which  it  prevents  from 
percolating  or  penetrating  farther  into  the  earth.  Under 
the  effect  of  drought,  it  cracks  and  becomes  excessively 
hard.  From  the  action  of  frost,  on  the  contrary,  it  swells 
and  crumbles  into  powder,  from  the  water's  expanding, 
as  it  freezes,  and  thus  breaking  up  whatever  contains  it. 
Hence  the  usual  humidity  of  clayey  lands,  the  difficulty 
of  ploughing  them  in  a  very  wet  or  a  very  dry  season, 
and  the  beneficial  effects  of  freezing. 

274.  There  are  many  kinds  of  clay,  and  most  of  them 
are  of  great  value  in  the  plastic  arts.  All  the  varieties 
of  porcelain,  pottery,  stone  ware,  earthen  ware,  tiles  and 
bricks,  are  made  wholly  or  chiefly  of  clay.  The  celebrated 
kaolin^  or  pure  white  porcelain  clay  of  China,  is  mouldered 
felspar  ;  and  ihapetmUze  of  the  Chinese  potter  is  another 
kind  of  felspar  containing  potash.  Clay  is  also  the  mate- 
rial commonly  used  by  the  statuary,  in  which  to  shape 
the  first  draught  or  model  of  his  figures,  and  often  by  the 


CLAY. — ALUMINUM. — CALCAREOUS   ROCKS.  79 

architect  for  the  first  solid  representation  of  the  ornaments 
of  pillars  and  other  parts  of  buildings. 

275.  Most  of  the  slates  are  more  or  less  aluminous. 
The  metal  aluminum,  which  is  the  basis  of  clay,  very 
much  resembles  silver  in  color,  brilliancy  and  hardness, 
though  far  less  beautiful.  Alum,  from  which  it  derives 
its  name,  is  partly  made  of  it. 

The  oxide,  alumina,  is  one  of  the  most  abundant  mate- 
rials of  the  crust  of  the  earth,  forming  not  less  than  one 
quarter  of  its  substance.  Two  of  the  most  beautiful  of 
the  precious  stones,  the  sapphire  and  the  ruhy,  are  alumina 
tinged  with  a  little  oxide  of  iron.  They  are  inferior  only 
to  the  diamond  in  hardness  and  brilliancy.  Another  very 
beautiful  precious  stone,  the  topaz,  is  also  an  aluminous 
mineral.  When  colorless,  it  possesses  a  lustre  which  has 
often  caused  it  to  be  mistaken  for  the  diamond. 

276.  (4.)  Calcareous  Rocks  are  composed  chiefly  of 
carbonate  of  lime,  that  is,  lime  chemically  combined  with 
carbonic  acid.  There  also  enters  into  their  composition 
a  greater  or  less  proportion  of  silex  or  other  sand,  and  of 
clay  and  sometimes  other  mineral  substances.  In  England 
and  some  other  countries,  vast  quantities  of  chalk,  which 
is  carbonate  of  lime,  are  found,  and  in  some  places  the 
soil  is  almost  wholly  made  of  it. 

A  soil  consisting  chiefly  of  calcareous  earth  is  a  very 
poor  soil.  It  has  more  tenacity  than  sand,  but  less  than 
clay,  absorbs  moisture  readily,  but  easily  parts  with  it, 
and  is  liable  to  crack,  when  dry,  like  clay,  and  to  parch 
plants  growing  in  it.  Excessive  moisture  turns  it  into  a 
thick  mud,  and  if,  in  this  state,  it  be  exposed  to  extreme 
cold,  it  swells  and  cracks,  and  is  apt  to  wound  the  roots 
of  plants  and  even  throw  them  out  of  the  ground.     In  its 


80  THE   SOIL. 

mechanical  properties  it  is  a  medium  between  clay  and 
sand. 

277.  (5.)  Pudding-stone  Rocks,  sometimes  called  gray- 
wacke,  are  made  up  of  materials  formed  by  the  mixture 
of  a  great  variety  of  other  rocks,  which  seem  to  have 
been  brought  together,  in  very  ancient  times,  by  the  action 
of  floods  or  streams  of  water.  They  have  their  name 
from  their  resemblance  to  plum-pudding,  the  ingredients 
being  of  every  variety  of  lime-stone,  clay-slate,  and  porphy- 
ry, greenstone,  trap,  and  every  other  form  of  granitic  rocks. 
They  are  often  of  a  very  coarse  texture,  made  up  of 
pieces  of  stone  of  every  size,  sometimes  weighing  hun- 
dreds of  pounds,  and  sometimes  of  so  fine  a  texture  as  to 
resemble  slate. 

The  materials  are  held  together  by  a  natural  mortar  of 
lime  or  of  rust  of  iron,  or  by  mere  contact.  When  com- 
pletely reduced  to  dust,  these  rocks  make  a  rich  soil,  from 
its  containing  all  the  mineral  materials,  intimately  mixed, 
which  are  necessary  to  the  fertility  of  soil. 

278.  All  these  rocks,  differing  in  hardness  and  in  other 
properties,  and  forming,  perhaps,  at  first,  the  surface  of 
the  earth,  have,  in  process  of  time,  been  crumbled,  and 
then,  or  before,  transported  to  various  distances. 

The  sand,  coarse  or  fine,  formed  by  the  crumbling  of 
the  granitic  rocks,  sand-stones,  and  pudding-stones,  con- 
tain the  six  substances  enumerated,  269.  The  slate  rocks 
form  clay ;  and  the  chalks  and  other  calcareous  rocks, 
lime.  Altogether  they  furnish  all  the  mineral  materials 
which  enter  into  the  structure  of  plants. 

279.  How  have  these  rocks  been  changed  into  soil? 
Chiefly  by  the  action  of  heat,  of  water,  and  of  cold.  The 
sun's  heat  warms  and  expands  all  the  rocks  upon  which 
it  falls.     While  they  are  in  this  state,  the  rain,  descending, 


ROCKS    CHANGED   INTO    SOIL. WEATHERING.  81 

penetrates  their  surface  and  moistens  and  softens  them. 
Frost  turns  this  moisture  into  innumerable  little  wedges 
of  ice,  which  split  the  thin  outer  coat  of  the  rocks  into 
minute  fragments.  The  hardest  rocks  are  thus  gradually 
crumbled  into  dust. 

Besides  these  agencies,  oxygen  is  constantly  acting.  So 
are  other  gases ;  and  so  are  carbonic  acid  and  other  acids, 
and  lime,  and  the  salts  of  potash,  and  other  salts.  These 
are  dissolving,  disintegrating  and  crumbling  the  rocks ; 
and  water,  in  streams  and  torrents,  is  constantly  rubbing 
off  and  dashing  together  the  fragments. 

All  these  causes  are  still  and  constantly  acting,  not  only 
upon  the  surface  of  the  great  rocks,  but  upon  the  surface 
of  the  particles  of  the  soil  in  the  cultivated  or  unculti- 
vated fields.  The  ceaseless  action  of  all  these  and  of 
other  forces  is  called  iveathering. 

280.  The  important  question  with  the  farmer  is.  Which 
is  the  best  soil  ?  Neither  of  the  three  kinds  of  earth 
spoken  of  forms  by  itself  a  good  soil.  Indeed,  each,  by 
itself,  forms  a  soil  absolutely  barren.  The  best  natural 
soil  is  one  formed  by  the  due  mixture  of  all  the  three, 
the  bad  qualities  of  each  being  corrected  by  the  good 
qualities  of  the  others. 

The  chemical  analysis  of  a  vast  number  of  soils  shows 
that  tlie  most  fertile  are  those  into  which  these  three 
important  classes  of  elements  enter  abundantly,  but  not 
in  equal  quantities  ;  and  that  the  fertility  diminishes  just 
in  proportion  as  any  one  of  the  three  comes  near  to  be 
exhausted. 

281.  All  the  innumerable  soils  have  essentially  the 
same  elements.  Clay,  lime  and  sand  are  the  basis  of  all. 
But  soils  vary  as  one  or  another  of  these  prevails,  or  as 
one  or  another  is  wanting. 


82  THE    SOIL. 

A  soil  formed  by  a  mixture  of  clay  and  sand,  in  nearly 
equal  proportions,  is  called  a  clayey  sand  or  a  sandy  clay^ 
according  as  the  one  or  the  other  predominates.  If  much 
more  than  one-half  is  clay,  we  call  it  a  loamy  clay.  So 
we  call  a  soil  a  calcareous  clay^  or  a  clayey  calcareous  soil, 
as  the  clay  or  the  lime  is  the  more  abundant. 

282.  It  must,  however,  always  be  understood,  that  all 
these  combined,  even  in  the  most  favorable  proportions,  are  not 
sufficient  to  form  a  good  soil.  There  must  be  superadded 
a  certain  amount  of  humus,  mould  or  geine.  This  seems 
to  be  at  the  same  time  the  reservoir,  and  often,  perhaps, 
the  source,  of  those  saline  matters  and  of  a  large  portion 
of  the  nitrogenous  and  carbonaceous  substances  which 
are  essential  to  the  growth  of  plants. 

Humus,  or  Geine,  for  both  words  mean  tlie  same  thing, 
is  a  dark-colored  earthy  matter,  fatty  to  the  feeling, 
formed  from  the  remains  of  vegetable  substances,  and 
sometimes  also  animal,  in  different  stages  of  decomposi- 
tion. It  readily  attracts  and  absorbs  water  and  retains  it, 
not  only  rain  water  but  the  vapor  of  the  air.  It  is  the 
perfection  of  vegetable  earth.  Land  is  considered  good 
arable  land,  which  contains  three  or  four  per  cent,  of  it. 
Soil  containing  as  much  as  eight  per  cent,  of  it,  is  good 
garden  mould,  and  with  ten  per  cent,  it  becomes  very 
rich. 

283.  It  can  be  very  readily  ascertained  whether  there 
is  any  humus  present,  by  burning  a  quantity  of  the  soil 
upon  a  red-hot  fire-shovel.  As  the  humus  calcines  and 
turns  into  charcoal,  it  exhales  an  odor  either  like  that  of 
burnt  horn  or  feathers,  or  like  that  of  burning  straw.  If 
the  smell  be  strong  of  burnt  feathers,  it  indicates  a  soil 
rich  in  the  products  of  decayed  animal  substance.     If  the 


HtJMUS  A  SOURCE  AND  RESERVOIR  OP  CARBONIC  ACID.     83 

only  perceptible  smell  be  that  of  burnt  straw,  it  indicates 
humus  formed  from  decayed  vegetable  substances. 

284.  Humus  is  always  favorable  to  vegetation,  except 
when  it  has  been  produced  by  the  decay  of  plants  under 
water,  or  has  been  very  long  lying  under  water.  This  is 
often  tlie  case  with  peat,  bog  earth  or  marsh  mud.  These 
are  almost  entirely  humus ;  but  when  they  have  been 
long  beneath  the  surface  of  water,  they  are  considered 
Qold,  and  possess  acid  properties,  which  render  them 
unfavorable  to  the  nourishment  of  plants,  until  corrected 
by  long  exposure  to  the  influences  of  the  atmosphere,  and 
to  the  alternation  of  the  sun's  light  and  of  frost. 

285.  Humus  not  only  acts  as  a  reservoir  of  carbonic 
acid,  holding  it  ready  to  be  given  to  the  roots  of  plants, 
but,  as  it  consists  mostly  of  carbon  and  water,  and  has  an 
attraction  for  oxygen,  it  is  constantly  receiving  oxygen 
from  the  air.  By  the  progressive  decay  thus  produced,  the 
vegetable  and  animal  remains  are  constantly  turning  into 
carbonic  acid  and  ammonia,  and  the  ammonia  into  ammo- 
niacal  salts,  thus  rendering  the  soil  rich  in  these  precious 
elements  of  vegetable  food.  In  soil  abundantly  supplied 
with  humus  or  other  rich  manure,  the  air  is  sometimes 
found  to  contain  four  hundred  times  as  much  carbonic 
acid  as  an  equal  quantity  of  the  air  in  the  atmosphere. 

286.  The  carbonic  acid  formed  in  vegetable  soil  by 
the  oxygen,  not  only  serves  directly  as  food  for  plants, 
but  it  decomposes  the  silicates  and  thus  sets  the  potash 
and  other  salts  free  to  be  dissolved  by  water  and  taken 
up  by  the  roots.  Another  portion  of  the  oxygen  absorbed, 
combines  ivith  the  hydrogen  of  the  humus,  and  produces 
water.  This  is  a  very  valuable  property,  especially  in 
dry  seasons,  and  is  one  reason  why  soils  abundantly 
supplied  with  humus  suffer  so  little  from  drought. 

8* 


M  THE   SOIL. 

287.  Another  most  important  property,  and  essential  to 
the  fertility  of  soil,  is  the  power  of  absorbing  moisture  from 
the  atmosphere.  During  the  night,  soils  which  possess 
this  property  in  a  sufficient  degree  are  enabled  to  con- 
dense a  large  quantity  of  water,  and  thus  make  up,  in  a 
very  considerable  measure,  for  the  enormous  quantity  lost 
by  evaporation  during  the  day. 

These  powers  of  absorbing  oxygen,  of  absorbing  and 
retaining  moisture,  and  of  forming  water,  are  given  to  a 
sandy  soil  by  humus,  and  also  by  clay,  but  far  more 
effectually  by  the  two  mixed  together. 

288.  The  richest  natural  soils  are  those  which  contain  all 
these  ingredients,  sand,  clay,  lime  and  humus  in  due  propor- 
tions. Such  are  the  alluvial  soils  found  on  the  low  banks 
of  the  Connecticut  and  maiiy  other  rivers.  These  streams, 
in  their  course  from  their  sources  in  the  hills,  wash  against 
and  wear  away  a  great  variety  of  rocks,  dissolve  and  carry 
along  with  them  portions  that  have  been  made  soluble  by 
the  processes  of  weathering,  and  take  up  quantities  of  leaf 
and  other  vegetable  mould,  and  bring  them  all  away  in 
their  current.  When,  in  the  winter  and  spring,  they 
overflow  their  banks,  they  deposit  all  these  mingled 
materials  upon  the  intervale  or  bottom  lands, — the  low 
grounds  lying  between  tlie  river  and  the  hills. 

In  the  lower  part  of  a  river's  course,  these  various 
materials  are  deposited  in  the  state  of  the  finest  sand  or 
clayey  mud  ;  soils  so  formed  are  found  to  possess  an  almost 
inexhaustible  fertility.  They  unite  all  the  materials  neces- 
sary for  the  growth  of  plants,  clay,  sand,  lime  and  humus, 
in  circumstances  the  most  favorable,  all  perfectly  mixed, 
and  all  reduced  to  the  state  of  the  finest  powder. 

289.  Next  in  value  to  these  soils,  for  permanent  culti- 
vation, are  the  light  sandy  soils  formed  by  the  crumbling 


QUARTZ,    FELSPAR,    MICA,    HORNBLENDE,  ALGITE.  85 

of  the  granitic  rocks.  They  contain,  in  inexhaustible 
abundance,  all  the  mhieral  elements  necessary  to  the 
growth  of  a  plant,  potash,  soda,  lime,  magnesia,  iron  and 
manganese,  in  the  condition  of  silicates. 

290.  The  following  table  will  show  this  to  be  true. 
Remember  that  granite,  gneiss  and  mica  slate,  are  com- 
posed of  mica,  quartz,  and  felspar ;  syenite,  of  quartz, 
felspar  and  hornblende ;  trap-rock,  of  augite,  felspar  and 
hornblende  ;  greenstone,  of  felspar  and  hornblende  ;  and 
porphyry,  almost  entirely  of  felspar. 

In  one  hundred  parts,  there  are,  in  these  different 
minerals,  about  these  proportions.  For  great  exactness, 
see  Dana's  Manual. 


Silica. 

Alumina. 

Potash. 

Magnesia. 

Iron. 

Lim 

In  Quartz,     . 

.      100. 

- 

- 

- 

- 

- 

Felspar,    . 

67. 

19. 

14. 

- 

- 

- 

Mica, 

.       46. 

14. 

10. 

10. 

20. 

-- 

Hornblende, 

59. 

- 

- 

20. 

7. 

14. 

Augite,     . 

.        53. 

- 

- 

8. 

17. 

22. 

291.  Quartz  is  silica  nearly  pure.  Felspar  is  a  silicate 
of  alumina  and  potash.  Mica  is  a  silicate  of  alumina  and 
potash,  and  of  magnesia  and  iron.  Hornblende  is  made 
of  silicates  of  magnesia  and  lime,  with  iron ;  and  augite, 
of  silicates  of  lime  and  magnesia,  with  a  larger  propor- 
tion of  iron.  In  some  kinds  of  felspar  soda  takes  the 
place  of  potash. 

292.  How  is  a  light,  sandy  soil,  possessing  the  mineral 
elements  of  fertility,  to  be  managed,  that  it  may  become 
fertile  ?  The  first  thing  to  be  done  is  to  render  it  capable 
of  absorbing  moisture,  carbonic  acid,  oxygen,  and  ammo- 
nia, and  of  retaining  them  so  as  to  give  them  out  to  the 
roots  of  plants  as  they  are  wanted.  This  is  done  by 
mixing  with  it  clay,  which  has  these  properties  in  a  very 
considerable  degree. 


86  THE   SOIL. 

It  not  uiifreqiieiitly  happens  that  an  abundance  of  clay 
is  to  be  found  lying  underneath  the  sand  at  no  great  dis- 
tance below  the  surface.  When  this  is  the  case,  clay  is 
to  be  dug  up  and  allowed  to  remain  in  small  ridges,  so  as 
to  be  exposed  to  the  sunlight,  the  air,  the  rain,  and  the 
cold  of  winter.  After  having  been  so  exposed,  for  a  year 
or  longer,  it  is  ready  to  be  scattered  upon  the  surface  of 
the  sandy  land,  or  to  be  ploughed  into  it.  The  good 
qualities  of  the  land  will  thus  be  permanently  improved. 
It  will  be  able  to  absorb  and  will  become  retentive  of 
moisture,  carbonic  acid,  and  ammonia,  and  of  all  the 
manures.  Such  an  addition  may  be  called  an  amend- 
ment. 

293.  Another,  and,  after  the  clay,  a  still  more  effectual 
way  of  rendering  a  sandy  soil  fertile,  is  the  application  of 
large  quantities  of  marsh  mud,  peat  or  swamp  muck. 
There  are  often,  in  the  immediate  neighborhood  of  sandy 
fields,  old  mud  holes,  bogs,  or  swamps,  where  vegetable 
substance, — humus, — hasbeen  accumulating  for  centuries. 
This,  by  itself,  is  of  no  value.  But  when  spread  upon 
the  land,  and  acted  upon  by  the  atmosphere,  it  immedi- 
ately begins  to  act  upon  the  silicates. 

"  The  very  act  of  exposure  of  this  swamp  muck  has 
caused  an  evolution  of  carbonic  acid  gas.  Tliat  decom^ 
poses  the  silicates  of  potash  in  the  sand ;  that  potash  con- 
verts the  insoluble  into  soluble  manure,  and  lo !  a  crop. 
That  growing  crop  adds  its  power  to  the  geine." 

By  such  processes,  repeated  from  year  to  year,  "  it  is 
not  to  be  doubted,  that  every  inch  of  every  sandy  knoll, 
on  every  farm,  may  be  changed  into  a  soil,  in  thirteen 
years,  of  half  that  number  of  inches  of  good  mould."* 

*  Dana's  Muck  Manual. 


LAND   ENRICHED    BY   CLOVER.  87 

And  if  this  can  be  done  with  the  barren  sandy  knolls, 
how  much  more  with  the  plains ! 

294.  Where  neither  clay  nor  marsh  mud  is  to  be 
easily  obtained,  light,  sandy  land  may  sometimes  be  ren- 
dered capable  of  absorbing  and  retaining  the  atmospheric 
elements  of  vegetable  food  and  thus  becoming  fertile,  by 
scattering  plaster  upon  it  and  sowing  clover  seed.  When 
the  crop  of  clover,  together  with  the  weeds  which  will 
spring  up  with  it,  is  in  perfection,  that  is,  nearly  or  quite 
ripe,  it  may  be  ploughed  in.  This  process,  though  seem- 
ingly a  waste  of  good  clover  hay,  is  one  by  which  many 
poor  lands  may  be  rendered  fertile  and  afterwards  kept 
£0  by  careful  cultivation. 

295.  If  it  be  objected  that  all  these  amendments  re- 
quire a  good  deal  of  time  and  labor,  it  may  be  answered, 
that  there  are  days  in  the  year  when  a  farmer  can  spare 
both,  and  that  a  permanent  improvement  of  land  is  worth 
a  good  deal  of  both.  Tliere  are  no  g-ains  ivithout  pains. 
Clay  may  be  brought  from  a  clay  pit  or  muck  from  a  bog 
at  seasons  of  the  year  when  no  agricultural  operation  can 
go  on. 

296.  A  Clayey  Soil  is  to  be  improved  first  by  the  appli- 
cation of  sand,  as  fine  as  can  be  found,  in  quantities 
proportioned  to  the  hardness  and  closeness  of  the  clay. 
The  object  is  to  bring  it  into  such  a  state  as  shall  allow 
water  to  penetrate  freely,  and  that  it  shall  harden  and 
crack  less  under  the  influence  of  drought.  If  applied  to 
the  surface,  the  sand  will  exert  at  once  a  favorable  influ- 
ence there,  and  will  soon  find  its  way  down  into  the  clay, 
when  another  layer  may  be  applied.  This  may  be  done 
as  well  in  the  heart  of  winter  as  at  any  other  season. 
The  sand  not  only  improves  the  texture  of  the  soil,  but 
the  reciprocal  action  of  the  clay  and  the  sand,  aided  as  it 


OO  THE   SOIL. 

will  be  bj  any  manure  that  may  be  applied  and  by  the 
vital  power  of  the  growing  plants,  supplies  new  materials 
for  their  food. 

A  clayey  soil  is  always  greatly  improved  by  deep  drain- 
ing. 

297.  A  limestone  or  Calcareous  Soil,  in  which  there  is  a 
deficiency  of  sand  or  of  clay,  may  be  amended  by  the 
application  of  each,  according  to  the  means  within  reach. 
A  valuable  addition  to  a  calcareous  soil  is  the  sandy  mud 
found  in  the  bed  of  a  stream,  which  may  often  be  easily 
obtained  in  the  dryest  part  of  summer. 

298.  A  fourth  kind  of  soil,  naturally  unproductive  of 
valuable  plants,  is  that  of  marshes  and  swamps.  Unpro- 
ductive as  such  soils  are,  they  are  mines  of  vegetable 
wealth,  as  they  always  contain  an  abundance  of  substance 
produced  by  the  decay  of  vegetable  and  animal  matters, 
— of  the  richest  humus. 

They  are  to  be  wisely  husbanded.  They  often  contain, 
in  a  single  acre,  enough  of  the  organic  elements  of  fer- 
tility to  convert  forty  acres  of  hungry,  barren  land  into 
fertile  soil.  This  mine  should  not  be  covered  over  and 
lost,  as  it  often  is,  by  burying  it  under  a  coat  of  sand. 
If  a  farmer  has  many  acres  of  swamp  or  marsh,  he  may 
bring  a  portion  of  it  into  immediate  fertility  by  an 
exchange  with  the  dry  and  sandy  hills  of  the  neighbor- 
hood,— a  load  of  sand  for  the  surface  of  the  swamp  for  a 
load  of  muck  for  the  surface  of  the  hill, — but  he  ought 
to  leave  always  a  part  of  his  mine  accessible,  at  every 
season  of  the  year,  and  continue  to  draw  from  it  as  long 
as  he  has  an  acre  of  poor  sandy  land  left. 

299.  The  soil  formed  from  the  swamp,  by  draining  and 
covering  with  sand,  may  be  greatly  benefited  by  the 
application  of  lime,  guano  and  other  heating  manures. 


COLD    SOILS. — WARM   SOILS. — COLOR.  89 

300.  Soils  in  which  clay  predominates  are  usually 
heavy  J  stiffs  ivet  and  cold^  and  difficult  to  cultivate.  But, 
when  well  drained,  amended  by  the  application  of  sand 
and  of  humus,  and  carefully  tilled,  they  produce  abun- 
dantly, and  repay  the  pains  and  expense  which  have  been 
bestowed. 

Wet  lands  are  cold  because  of  the  continual  evapora- 
tion of  the  water  at  the  surface.  Every  one  knows  that 
when  a  wet  hand  or  face  is  exposed  to  the  wind,  it  feels 
cool.  As  the  moisture  is  converted  into  vapor,  it  takes 
up  heat,  and  gives  to  the  surface  a  sensation  of  coolness. 
In  the  same  way  evaporation  renders  the  surface  of  a  wet 
soil  constantly  cool. 

301.  But  lands  commonly  dry  are  on  that  account 
warm.  Sandy  land  retains  heat  far  better  than  clayey 
or  peaty  land. 

Color  also  has  an  important  influence.  Dark-colored 
soils  absorb  heat,  while  light  colored  soils  readily  reflect 
it.  Most  manures  are  dark-colored.  Rich  soils,  there- 
fore, naturally  absorb  heat,  and  rich  sandy  soils  retain  it, 
better  than  poor  ones. 

That  color  has  an  effect  upon  the  power  of  absorbing 
heat  is  proved  by  Dr.  Franklin's  experiment.  Place 
black,  blue,  red  and  white  pieces  of  cloth  on  the  snow  in 
the  sunshine,  and,  after  some  hours,  the  sun's  heat  will 
have  been  so  abundantly  absorbed  by  the  black,  that  it 
will  have  sunk  into  the  snow  before  the  white  has  beo'un 
to  grow  warm,  while  the  red  w^ill  be  just  beginning  to 
sink  and  the  blue  will  have  sunk  almost  as  far  as  the 
black. 

302.  There  are  few  places  in  this  part  of  the  country 
where  the  soil  has  been  formed  by  the  crumbling  of  the 
rocks  just  beneath  the  surface.     In  most  parts  of  the 


90  THE   SOIL. 

Northern  and  Middle  States,  the  soil  is  made  up,  in  a 
considerable  degree,  sometimes  wholly,  of  sands  or  clays, 
drifted  from  the  north.  These  are  often  called  diluvial 
soils,  from  a  belief,  once  in  vogue,  that  they  had  been 
brought  to  the  places  where  they  are  found  by  the  action 
of  a  deluge  (diluvium.') 

303.  When  the  native  forests  are  cut  down,  and  the 
land  cleared  of  the  undergrowth,  and  broken  up  by  the 
plough,  the  soil  is  almost  uniformly  found  to  be  fertile. 
In  most  parts  of  America,  this  virgin  soil  will  bear  large 
crops  of  grain  and  other  valuable  plants,  for  many  years 
in  succession,  without  manure.  This  fertility  is  owing 
to  the  fact  that  the  surface  has  been  occupied  by  forest 
trees  and  other  forest  plants  for  countless  centuries.  By 
the  decay  of  the  leaves,  fruit,  roots  and  trunks,  the 
ground  has  been  covered  with  a  coat  of  humus  or  forest 
mould ;  and  by  weathering, — the  long  continued  action 
of  the  atmosphere,  and  other  great  agencies  of  nature, — 
the  minerals  in  the  soil  have  been  brought  into  a  state 
suitable  for  the  food  of  plants. 

304.  To  give  some  instances  of  this  action.  The  oxygen 
of  the  air,  combining  with  the  iron  or  oxide  of  iron  in  a 
particle  of  granite,  makes  it  swell  and  crumble,  and,  at 
the  same  time,  releases  the  potash  or  other  element  which 
had  been  associated  with  the  iron,  and  leaves  it  ready  to 
be  taken  up  by  the  roots  of  a  plant.  Carbonic  acid  acts 
in  a  similar  way  upon  lime  and  magnesia. 

305.  But  the  carbonic  acid  does  not  act  alone.  Car- 
bonic acid  is  always  ready  to  be  dissolved  or  absorbed  by 
water ;  and  water,  thus  charged  with  it,  has  not  only  the 
power  of  dissolving  limestone  and  magnesian  rocks,  but 
exerts  a  slow  but  certain  influence  by  which  even  granite 
and  the  other  hardest  rocks  are  gradually  crumbled  ;  very 


ACTION   OF   CARBONIC   ACID  — EXHAUSTED   SOILS.        91 

few  minerals,  perhaps  none,  being  able  to  resist  its  long- 
continned  action ;  and  though  its  solvent  power  seems 
to  be  slight,  in  the  lapse  of  time  it  produces  changes  of 
great  importance  and  extent. 

306.  Carbonic  acid  acts  in  other  ways.  It  unites  with 
the  ammonia  of  the  atmosphere,  forming  carbonate  of 
ammonia,  and  with  the  potash  and  soda  in  the  earth, 
forming  carbonates  of  potash  and  of  soda.  These  three 
alkaline  carbonates  have  the  power  of  dissolving  silica. 
Now  it  has  just  been  stated  that  silica  enters  as  an  ingre- 
dient into  the  composition  of  nearly  all  the  harder  rocks. 
Of  the  three  minerals  of  which  granite  is  composed, 
quartz  is  almost  pure  silica  ;  mica  is  two  thirds  silica,  and 
felspar  is  about  one  half  made  up  of  silica.  All  these 
minerals  and  many  others  are  thus  gradually  disinte- 
grated by  the  slow  action  of  these  carbonates  upon  the 
silica  in  them. 

307.  Why  does  the  fertility  cease  ?  The  mineral  and 
atmospheric  elements  of  the  food  of  plants  are  gradually 
taken  up  by  successive  crops,  and  carried  off  with  them, 
the  humus  grows  thin  and  meagre,  and  the  soil  is  ex- 
hausted. The  crops  obtained  from  the  land  are,  year 
after  year,  continually  smaller,  till  at  last  they  are  not 
sufficient  to  reward  the  labors  of  the  husbandman. 

308.  The  obvious  remedy  is  to  restore  to  the  soil  the 
elements  wanting,  as  will  be  shown  in  the  chapter  upon 
manures. 

309.  But  if  a  soil  be  barren  for  one  plant,  it  is  not 
necessarily  so  for  every  other.  A  field  which,  for  want 
of  soluble  silica,  will  not  bear  a  second  crop  of  Indian 
corn,  may,  from  having  a  plenty  of  potash  and  lime  in  it, 
bear  an  excellent  crop  of  clover  or  of  beets  or  carrots. 
There  may  not  be  enough  of  a  particular  element  for  one 


9^  OF  THE  SUBSOIL. 

kind  of  plant,  while  a  plant  of  another  kind  may  find  a 
qnantity  of  food  amply  sufficient  for  its  perfect  develop- 
ment. A  third  sort  of  plant  may  thrive  upon  the  same 
soil,  after  the  second,  if  the  remaining  mineral  constitu- 
ents are  sufficient  for  a  crop  of  it.  And  if,  during  the 
cultivation  of  these  crops,  a  new  quantity  of  the  sub- 
stance wanting  for  the  first,  for  instance,  of  soluble  silica 
for  Indian  corn,  has  been  rendered  available  by  weather- 
ing, then,  if  the  other  elements  be  found  in  sufficient 
quantity,  the  first  crop  may  be  again  grown  upon  the 
same  land. 


CHAPTER    X. 


OF   THE   SUBSOIL. 


310.  Immediately  below  the  soil  lies  the  subsoil.  It 
may  be  and  often  is  composed  of  the  same  kind  of  earth 
as  the  proper  soil ;  or  it  may  be  entirely  different.  A 
sandy  soil  may  rest  upon  a  subsoil  of  clay,  or  upon  cal- 
careous rock,  or  rock  of  any  other  kind,  or  upon  gravel. 

311.  The  influence  of  the  subsoil  upon  vegetation  is 
often  very  great,  especially  when  the  soil  is  not  deep 
enough  for  the  free  growth  of  the  roots  of  the  plants  cul- 
tivated. In  that  case,  when  the  subsoil  is  of  such  a 
nature  as  to  admit  of  it,  the  soil  should  be  deepened  by 
ploughing.  This  should  be  done  gradually  and  with 
judgment,  because,  as  the  subsoil  has  no  mould  or  loam 
in  it,  turning  too  much  of  it  up  to  the  surface  at  once. 


AN   DIPERMEABLE    SUBSOIL.  93 

will  be  very  likely  to  render  the  soil  poorer  for  some  time, 
instead  of  richer.  If  a  farmer  is  aware  tliat  his  soil 
would  be  improved  by  being  deeper,  he  must  make  the 
improvement  by  adding  to  its  depth  a  little  each  year. 

312.  When  a  loose  sand  rests  upon  clay ;  or  a  clayey 
soil  upon  calcareous  marl,  or  upon  sand ;  indeed  when- 
ever the  subsoil  will  serve  as  an  amendment  to  the  soil^ 
the  two  may  be  mixed  with  great  advantage. 

The  evils  of  a  subsoil  imj^ermeable  to  water  are  the 
stagnation  of  water  and  the  excessive  humidity  of  the 
soil.  Generally,  a  very  slight  declivity  is  sufficient  to 
induce  the  water  to  trickle  along  below  the  soil  upon  the 
surface  of  the  subsoil,  until  it  finds  some  means  of  escape. 
But  even  in  this  case,  there  is  likely  to  remain  in  the 
soil  superfluous  moisture,  which  ought  to  be  carried  away 
by  draining. 

313.  When  the  slope  is  not  sufficient  to  lead  the  water 
to  run  off,  the  ground  becomes  boggy  and  the  evil  is 
declared  by  signs  intelligible  to  e very-body,  by  the  spring- 
ing up  of  rushes,  sedges  and  other  bog  plants.  But 
when  the  slope  allows  the  water  to  trickle  away  slowly, 
the  evil  is  not  so  apparent.  The  most  certain  sign,  per- 
haps, is  the  presence  of  the  weeds  called  horsetail,  and 
scouring  rush,  (species  of  eqidsetum,')  which  need  a  sub- 
soil always  wet  for  their  horizontal  roots  to  run  upon. 

It  may  be  laid  down  as  a  rule  that  wherever  horsetail 
appears,  the  ground  needs  draining. 


94  OF  AMENDMENTS. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

OF   AMENDMENTS. 

314.  The  soil  plays,  in  the  life  of  plants,  a  double  part. 
It  serves  to  give  room  and  foothold  to  the  roots ;  and  it 
furnishes  or  keeps  in  store  for  plants  the  elements  nec- 
essary for  their  nourishment. 

The  qualities  a  soil  ought  to  have,  to  give  sufficient 
foothold,  must  vary  with  the  plants.  The  grains  need  a 
somewhat  compact  soil  to  give  firmness  of  foothold ;  the 
different  kinds  of  clover  a  deeper  one.  On  the  whole, 
what  is  best  suited  to  plants  is  average  qualities,  a  soil 
neither  too  compact  nor  too  mellow,  neither  too  heavy 
nor  too  light,  too  wet  nor  too  dry. 

315.  These  evils  are  remedied  by  Amendments,  that  is, 
operations,  or  the  use  of  substances,  by  which  the  soil 
will  be  improved  in  its  physical  qualities.  For  example, 
increasing  the  humidity  of  dry  soils,  diminishing  that  of 
moist  soils,  increasing  tlie  tenacity  of  light  soils,  lessen- 
ing that  of  heavy  soils,  or  any  other  changes  in  the 
mechanical  or  physical  properties,  w^ould  properly  be  called 
amendments. 

316.  Argillaceous  soils  may  be  improved  by  the  addi- 
tion, not  only  of  sand,  but  of  gravel,  broken  brick  and 
plaster,  in  short  by  any  thing  whicli  will  render  them 
more  open,  loose  and  penetrable  by  air  and  water.  In 
England,  clayey  land  is  often  much  improved  by  burning 
over  the  surface,  or  by  burning  a  portion  of  the  clay 
and  scattering  it  upon  the  land.  By  burning,  the  clay 
changes  its  properties  and  becomes  more  like  sand,  and  in 
this  state  loosens  the  soil. 


IRRIGATION. — PLANTING. — COST.  95 

317.  The  amendments  suited  to  light,  dry,  siliceous 
lands,  are  clay,  as  already  suggested,  to  give  them  cohe- 
sion, and  argillaceous  marls,  whenever  they  are  to  be  had. 
Irrigation  not  only  gives  moisture  to  a  dry  soil,  but 
always  brings  useful  additions  in  the  substances  which 
have  been  dissolved  in  the  water  and  are  deposited  when 
the  water  is  at  rest. 

318.  Planting  with  trees,  especially  planting  dry,  barren 
hills  with  forest  trees,  permanently  increases  the  moisture, 
not  only  of  the  surface  covered  by  the  trees,  but  of  the 
neighborhood,  and  thus  improves  the  climate.  Draining 
is  a  valuable  amendment. 

319.  In  reference  to  a  proposed  amendment,  the  ex- 
pense must  be  calculated,  and  the  question  must  be 
settled  whether  the  increased  produce  will  pay  for  the 
outlay. 

When  the  materials  are  near  at  hand  and  it  will  cost 
little  to  get  them  and  transport  them,  the  question  is 
easily  settled. 

320.  The  character  of  the  amendment  must  also  be 
considered.  A  sandy  soil  amended  by  the  addition  of 
clay  becomes  permanently  better.  The  clay  can  never 
be  exhausted,  and  will  always  give  to  the  soil  the  power 
of  absorbing  and  retaining  the  elements  of  the  food  of 
plants. 

An  amendment  produced  by  the  introduction  of  humus 
or  any  form  of  carbonaceous  matter  will  give  value  to 
the  land,  as  long  as  it  continues  to  be  well  cultivated  and 
manured,  but,  like  manure,  the  added  matter  is  liable  to 
be  exhausted. 

The  quantity  to  be  used  will  vury  with  the  depth  of 
ploughing. 

9* 


96  OF    FERTILIZERS. 


CHAPTER   XII. 

OP  FERTILIZERS. 

321.  The  soil  ought  to  contain  all  the  elements  neces- 
sary to  the  nourishment  of  plants.  These  have  already 
been  spoken  of  hi  the  chapter  upon  the  various  elementary 
substances  found  in  plants.  They  are :  1,  oxygen ;  2, 
carbon,  in  the  state  of  carbonic  acid ;  3,  hydrogen ;  4, 
nitrogen,  in  the  shape  of  ammonia  ;  5,  silicon  ;  6,  sulphur, 
and  7,  phosphorus ;  8,  chlorine,  and  9,  sodium,  in  the 
shape  of  common  salt ;  10,  calcium  ;  11,  potassium  ;  12, 
magnesium ;  13,  iron ;  14,  manganesium.  It  must  also 
contain  15,  aluminum,  as  the  basis  of  clay,  and,  though 
in  minute  quantity,  16,  fluorine ;  and  the  water  or  the 
soil  must  contain  for  certain  marine  plants,  17,  iodine, 
and  18,  bromine. 

322.  These,  except  the  first  four,  atmospheric  elements, 
are  always  found  in  combination,  as  silicates,  sulphates, 
nitrates,  phosphates,  carbonates  and  chlorites,  of  potash, 
soda,  lime,  magnesia,  iron,  manganese  and  alumina,  or 
in  other  forms  sometimes  more  complex. 

We  know  that  these  are  all  essential  to  plants,  because 
we  find  them  all  in  the  ashes  of  plants. 

If  any  one  of  these  elements  were  absolutely  wanting 
in  a  soil,  the  plants  to  which  that  element  was  essential 
could  do  little  more  than  sprout  there  ;  and  if  planted  or 
sown  in  such  a  soil,  would  starve  to  death.  Plaster,  for 
example,  is  beneficial  to  clover  ;  and  clover  seed,  sown  in 
a  soil  which  contained  no  plaster,  might  not  come  up.  If 
there  were  a  very  little  plaster  in  the  soil,  the  clover 
might  come  up,  but  would  not  flourish. 


HUMUS    ESSENTIAL    AND    TO    BE    SUPPLIED.  97 

323.  What  is  the  remedy  ?  Plainly  it  is,  to  add  to  the 
soil  the  element  or  elements  wanting ;  that  is,  to  aj)ply 
manure  to  the  soil. 

324.  It  might  naturally  be  thought  that,  inasmuch  as 
the  atmospheric  elements  are  furnished  continually  by  the 
atmosphere,  it  could  not  be  necessary  to  supply  the  soil 
with  substances  intended  to  furnish  them.  But  then  it 
must  be  remembered  that  the  atmospheric  elements  are 
furnished  very  slowly,  and  it  is  always  desirable  to  hasten 
the  processes  of  vegetation,  in  our  short  seasons.  It  is 
tberefore  reasonable,  and  the  experience  of  all  agricultu- 
rists, in  all  temperate  countries,  shows  it  to  be  wise,  to 
provide  an  abundant  supply  of  those  substances  which 
are  full  of  these  atmospheric  elements,  or  which  serve  to 
attract  them  and  keep  them  in  reserve  for  the  wants  of 
the  growing  plants. 

325.  To  the  question,  therefore.  Is  nothing  ever  to  be 
supplied  to  the  soil  but  the  mineral  elements  which  are 
wanting  ?  the  answer  is  to  be  given,  whenever  humus  is 
not  already  abundant  in  the  soil,  it  is  to  be  supplied. 
For  humus  furnishes  directly,  and  also  indirectly,  by  the 
changes  that  are  "going  on  in  it  from  the  action  of  the 
oxygen  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  vital  power  of  plants, 
the  carbonic  acid,  ammonia  and  nitric  acid  which  are 
just  as  essential  as  the  mineral  elements. 

326.  But  how  are  wild  plants  supplied  with  humus  ? 
By  a  process  vastly  too  slow  to  meet  the  wants  of  the  hus- 
bandman. The  roots  and  leaves  of  the  plants  that  have 
died,  decay  and  form  humus  for  those  wiiich  are  to  suc- 
ceed. But  the  supply  is  usually  very  scanty,  and  wild 
plants  have  often  a  thin,  meagre  look,  in  comparison  with 
those  under  cultivation ;  as,  for  example,  the  slender- 
rooted  wild  carrot,  when  compared  with  the  carrot  of  the 


98  OF  FERTILIZERS. 

garden.  Prof.  Nuttall,  who  brought  to  this  country  many 
beautiful  wild  plants  from  Oregon,  often  said  that  when 
he  saw  them  in  the  gardens  of  those  to  whom  he  had  sent 
them,  he  could  hardly  recognize  them,  so  much  had  they 
been  improved  in  size  and  vigor  by  cultivation. 

327.  But  humus  is  slowly  prepared  by  the  wild  plants 
themselves.  The  licJien  which  encrusts  the  surface  of  a 
rock  has  no  humus  to  begin  to  live  on.  It  seems  to  have 
the  power  of  eating  into  the  rock  itself  and  of  extracting 
thence  the  mineral  elements  it  needs.  From  the  air  and 
the  rain  it  gets  carbonic  acid  and  ammonia,  and,  when  it 
dies,  deposits  on  the  rock  a  thin  coat  of  humus  fitted  for 
the  partial  nourishment  of  other  generations  of  lichens. 
These  are  succeeded,  after  many  years,  by  plants  some- 
what more  flesh}^,  like  the  mosses,  and  by  the  grasses  and 
other  slender,  longer  rooted  plants ;  and  these  by  plants 
still  larger  ;  till,  in  the  slow  process  of  time,  substance 
enough  is  gathered  to  give  foothold  to  shrubs,  and  finally 
to  trees. 

328.  The  trees  of  the  forest,  by  their  annual  deposit  of 
leaves  and,  from  time  to  time,  of  fruits,  and  at  last  by  the 
fall  and  decay  of  their  trunks,  prepare  a  deep  bed  of 
humus  or  forest  mould  for  the  use  of  the  husbandman. 

Whenever  he  can,  he  avails  himself  of  this  treasure. 
But  where  it  is  wanting  or  scanty,  cultivated  plants  are 
to  be  furnished  with  the  abundant  humus  which  they 
need,  by  placing  in  the  soil,  within  reach  of  their  roots, 
organic,  that  is  to  say,  vegetable  and  animal  substances, 
in  the  state  of  decay. 

329.  How  these  act  has  already  been  shown.  They  pos- 
sess themselves  and  impart  to  the  soil  the  power  of  absorb- 
ing and  retaining,  for  the  use  of  plants,  the  water  and 
with  it  the  carbonic  acid,  ammonia,  oxygen,  nitric  acid 


CLASSIFICATION    OF   FERTILIZERS.  99 

and  other  elements  which  come  down  dissolved  in  the 
rain.  These,  acting  on  each  other,  and  quickened  in  their 
action  by  the  air,  by  the  sun's  light  and  heat,  and  by  the 
electric  and  vital  influences  of  the  plants,  continually 
prepare  for  the  use  of  plants,  the  food  which  they  need, 
in  the  form  best  suited  to  their  nourishment. 

330.  To  the  question.  Which  are  more  important,  the 
atmospheric  elements  thus  furnished,  or  the  earthy  or 
mineral  ?  we  answer.  Both  are  equally  important.  Both 
are  indispensable.  They  are  necessary  to  each  other.  A 
soil  rich  in  organic  substances,  attracts  and  retains  the 
atmospheric  elements  in  abundance  proportioned  to  its 
richness.  Such  a  soil  puts  the  earthy  elements  into  a 
condition  suited  to  the  wants  of  vegetation  ;  and,  the  more 
readily  and  abundantly,  in  proportion  to  the  fulness  of  the 
supply  of  these  earthy  elements. 

331.  Fertilizers  may  accordingly  be  divided  into  two 
great  classes,  viz. :  Inorganic  or  Mineral  Fertilizers,  and 
Organic,  or  Vegetable  and  Animal  Manures, 

OF   INORGANIC   OR   MINERAL   FERTILIZERS. 

332.  In  their  general  character,  inorganic  fertilizers 
are  both  manures  and  amendments.  They  furnish  nour- 
ishment to  plants,  at  the  same  time  that  they  exert  a 
mechanical  action  upon  the  texture  of  the  soil,  upon  its 
lightness,  stiffness,  compactness,  &c. 

333.  The  principal  mineral  fertilizers  are  lime,  marl, 
plaster,  wood  ashes,  ley,  soot,  sulpliates  and  other  salts 
of  ammonia,  phosphates  and  super-phosphates  of  lime, 
common  salt,  carbonates,  nitrates,  silicates  of  potash  and 
soda,  sulpliates  of  soda,  of  lime,  and  of  magnesia,  &c. 
But  all  of  these  are  not  in  common  use. 


100  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

334.  Quicklime  is  limestone,  chalk,  or  shells,  deprived 
of  their  carbonic  acid  by  heat  in  a  fire  or  a  lime-kiln. 
Quicklime  amends  a  soil  by  decomposing  some  of  its 
ingredients,  and  by  setting  at  liberty  the  potash  and  other 
alkalies  which  exist  in  combination  with  clay  and  in  par- 
ticles of  granitic  sand.  It  also  hastens  the  decay  of 
organic  substances,  and  combines  with  some  of  the  gas- 
eous products  given  out  during  the  process.  It  should  be 
in  a  state  of  powder,  before  it  is  scattered  upon  the  soil. 
It  combines  with  the  carbonic  acid  which  is  always  in  the 
air  and  constantly  brought  down  by  rain,  and  thus 
returns  to  the  state  of  carbonate  of  lime. 

This,  by  itself,  is  insoluble  in  water,  but  water  contain- 
ing carbonic  acid  has  the  power  of  dissolving  carbonate 
of  lime,  and  thus  the  carbonate  so  formed  and  that 
already  in  the  limestone  rocks  are  dissolved,  and  the 
rocks  are  disintegrated. 

It  also  acts  upon  plants  by  diminishing  the  evaporation 
from  their  surface,  and  thus  husbands  the  moisture  in  the 
soil,  and  makes  it  last  longer  than  it  would  without  the 
lime.  This  same  effect  is  also  produced  by  gypsum, 
nitre,  common  salt,  and  most  of  the  other  saline  manures. 

335.  An  excellent  way  of  using  lime  is  in  a  compost, 
as  is  practiced  in  Flanders.  Make  a  layer  of  lime,  and 
cover  it  with  a  layer  of  sods,  weeds,  scrapings  of  ditches 
and  roads,  river  mud,  marsh  mud,  and  any  thing  else  rich 
in  organic  substances.  Follow  with  successive  layers  of 
lime  and  of  the  organic  matter,  and  cover  with  a  coat  of 
loam.  At  the  end  of  a  fortnight,  it  may  be  worked  over, 
and  this  may  be  repeated,  from  time  to  time.  The  longer 
it  remains  in  a  heap,  the  more  complete  is  the  mixture, 
and  the  better  the  compost. 


LIME. MARL.  101 

336.  Lime  mellows  clayey  land.  It  is  an  essential 
element  in  most  plants  and  is  valuable  therefore  for 
itself.  It  is  a  very  important  element  in  tobacco,  pota- 
toes, pease,  the  clovers,  and  turnips.  It  corrects  the 
acidity  of  soils,  particularly  of  that  of  bogs  and  swamps. 
An  examination  of  the  mineral  ingredients  of  our  soils 
shows  that  it  is  never  wanting. 

337.  Yet,  in  most  parts  of  New  England,  it  is  so  diffi- 
cult to  obtain  and  so  dear  that  it  cannot  often  be  la,rgely 
applied.  In  small  quantities,  it  produces,  when  needed, 
most  important  effects.  In  England,  large  quantities  are 
often  applied  to  land  in  the  shape  of  chalk. 

338.  Limestone  rocks  often  contain  magnesia,  which  is 
acted  upon  in  a  lime-kiln  just  as  lime  is.  This  dimin- 
ishes the  value  of  the  lime,  as  does  the  mixture  of  clay 
and  of  sand,  Avith  which  it  is  sometimes  adulterated. 
Wherever  oyster  shells  or  any  other  shells  can  be  readily 
got,  they  may  be  burned  on  heaps  of  brush,  or  other  fuel 
of  little  value,  and  will  be  converted  into  a  lime  which  is 
of  greater  value  for  agricultural  purposes,  than  that 
formed  from  limestone  rocks,  because  it  contains  a  small 
quantity  of  phosphoric  acid.  The  having  already  formed 
a  part  of  an  organized  being  seems  also  to  prepare  it 
for  a  similar  service. 

339.  Marl  is  a  mixture  of  lime  and  clay,  or  lime  and 
sand,  sometimes,  but  not  often,  found  in  New  England, 
but  abundant  in  some  other  States.  When  exposed  to 
the  atmosphere,  it  should  crumble  easily,  as  its  action  is 
in  proportion  to  its  readiness  to  mix  perfectly  watli  the 
soil.  Though  less  energetic,  it  has  all  the  permanent 
effects  of  lime,  and  is  very  valuable  as  an  amendment, 
clayey  marl  to  sandy  soils,  and  sandy  marl  to  clayey. 


102  OF  FERTILIZERS. 

340.  Plaster,  or  plaster  of  Paris,  as  it  is  often  called, 
is  sulphate  of  lime :  and  the  valuable  effects  it  produces 
upon  soils  are  owing  to  its  supplying  them  not  only  with 
lime,  but  with  the  very  important  and  often  essential 
element  of  sulphur. 

341.  Sulphur,  or  brimstone,  is  present  in  nearly  all 
parts  of  vegetables  and  of  animals.  Mustard  seeds  and 
the  seeds  of  all  other  cruciferous  plants  contain  a  large 
proportion  of  sulphur.  It  also  exists  in  the  white  of 
eggs,  in  the  curd  of  milk,  in  hair  and  in  wool. 

Several  very  valuable  salts  are  formed  by  sulphuric  acid 
or  oil  of  vitriol.  By  combining  with  potash,  it  forms  sul- 
phate of  potash ;  with  soda,  sulphate  of  soda, — Glauber's 
salt;  Avith  lime,  sulphate  of  lime, — plaster  or  gypsum; 
with  magnesia,  sulphate  of  magnesia, — Epsom  salts  ;  with 
alumina,  sulphate  of  alumina ;  with  oxide  of  iron,  sul- 
phate of  iron, — copperas.  And  it  is  from  these  and  other 
similar  compounds  that  jDlants  derive  the  sulphur  found 
in  them. 

342.  Plaster  produces  a  striking  effect  upon  the  water 
in  which  it  is  dissolved,  "  such  water,  being  incapable  of 
cooking  vegetables  and  of  dissolving  soap,  is  called  hard 
ivater;  but  it  may  be  very  easily  and  economically  con- 
verted into  soft  water,  and  rendered  fit  for  domestic  and 
culinary  purposes,  by  adding  to  it  a  small  quantity  of 
ordinary  carbonate  of  soda,  in  the  proportion  of  about 
half  an  ounce  per  gallon." — Normandy. 

Carbonate  of  lime  is  formed,  which  settles  to  the  bot- 
tom as  a  white  sediment,  from  which  soft  water  may  be 
poured  off. 

343.  Plaster  has  also  the  property  of  being  decomposed 
by  the  carbonate  of  ammonia.  It  is  thus  turned  into 
sulphate  of  ammonia,  which  is  not  volatile  at  a  common 


PLASTER   OF   PARIS.  —  ITS    ACTION.  103 

temperature,  and  so  husbands  the  ammonia  for  the  future 
use  of  plants.  This  takes  place  because  ammonia  and 
sulphuric  acid  have  a  greater  mutual  attraction  than 
ammonia  and  carbonic  acid.  The  ammonia,  therefore, 
leaves  the  carbonic  acid  with  which  it  has  been  united, 
and  unites  with  sulphuric  acid,  to  form  sulphate  of 
ammonia ;  and  the  lime,  deprived  of  the  sulphuric  acid, 
unites  with  carbonic  acid,  to  form  carbonate  of  lime. 
This  is  more  clearly  shown  by  the  following  diagram : — 

Sulphate    (  Sulphuric  Acid, Sulphate  of  Ammonia. 

OF             < 
Lime.        (  Lime, 


Carbonate  C  Ammonia,    .  .  .  .  • 
OP           < 
Ammonia.  (  Carbonic  Acid, Carbonate  of  Lime. 

344.  The  carbonate  of  ammonia  comes  from  the  air,  in 
which  it  is  formed  by  the  combination  of  the  carbonic 
acid  always  floating  there,  with  the  ammonia  always  form- 
mg  by  the  union  of  hydrogen  and  nitrogen.  Or  it  may 
be  formed  in  the  earth. 

345.  But  when  and  how  should  plaster  be  applied? 
When  a  soil  does  not  contain  naturally  any  sulphate  of 
lime,  or  when  it  has  been  exhausted  by  cropping,  the 
addition  of  that  substance  may  prove  of  great  value  in 
two  ways  ;  1st,  by  furnishhig  food  for  the  plants  men- 
tioned, and  2d,  by  fixing  the  ammonia  of  the  atmosphere 
and  laying  it  up  in  store  for  the  future  use  of  plants  by 
decomposing,  as  shown  above,  the  carbonate  of  ammonia 
contained  in  rain  water,  and  making  soluble  sulphate  of 
ammonia  and  carbonate  of  lime. 

When  applied,  plaster  should  be  scattered,  in  the  shape 
of  the  finest,  impalpable  powder,  in  the  spring,  just  as 
vegetation  is  beginning,  while  the  dew  of  the  morning  or 

10 


104  OF    FERTILIZERS. 

evening  is  on  the  plants,  that  it  may  stick,  but  not  in 
rainy  weather. 

346.  The  other  sulphates  are  also  useful.  Sulphate  of 
soda  is  said  to  produce  good  effects  upon  clover  and  other 
green  crops.  And  so  also  is  sulphate  of  magnesia  good 
for  these  crops  and  for  potatoes. 

347.  Ashes.  In  Westphalia  there  is  a  proverb  that 
"  he  pays  double  who  buys  no  ashes."  It  is  a  fact  often 
observed  that,  on  strewing  wood  ashes  on  a  meadow  which 
has  long  been  mown,  thousands  of  clover  plants  make 
their  appearance,  where  none  were  visible  before. 

Ashes  are  made  up  of  salts,  such  as  silicates,  phos- 
phates, sulphates  and  carbonates.  The  carbonates  and 
sulphates  of  potash  and  soda,  as  found  in  ashes,  are 
soluble  and  are  dissolved  out  by  leaching.  The  silicates, 
phosphates  and  carbonates  of  lime,  magnesia,  iron  and 
manganese,  are  insoluble  and  thus  remain  in  leached 
ashes.  A  portion  also  of  sihcatc  of  potash  remains  undis- 
solved. 

Far  the  larger  part  of  leached  ashes  is  carbonate  of 
lime.     The  next  is  phosphate  of  lime  or  bone  dust. 

248.  Unleached  wood  ashes  are  of  great  value  in  the 
cultivation  of  many  crops,  especially  Indian  corn,  turnips, 
beets  and  potatoes,  because  ot  tlie  great  amount  of  car- 
bonate and  other  salts  of  potash  which  they  contain,  and 
so  important  is  potash  to  these  plants  that  they  are  often 
called  potash  plants. 

349.  Leached  ashes  are  of  less  general  value,  but  still 
are  a  very  valuable  fertilizer,  by  reason  of  the  salts  which 
they  contain,  wliich,  though  not  soluble  in  simple  water, 
may  be  rendered  soluble  by  the  influence  of  other  salts, 
of  air,  and  of  the  vital  power  of  plants,  and  may  be  thus 
again  taken  up  into  the  circulation,  and  again  perform 


ASHES. — LEY. — SOOT.  105 

the  service  they  had  already  performed  in  the  plants 
from  the  combustion  of  which  they  came.  They  have 
important  effects  when  mixed  in  compost  heaps. 

350.  The  ashes  of  sea  coal  and  anthracite  are  not  with- 
out value,  and  have  a  good  effect  upon  cold,  stiff  soils,  and 
are  found  an  excellent  top-dressing  for  grass,  even  on  light 
soils.  As  they  absorb  w^ater  and  the  gases,  they  are  deo- 
dorizers, and  retain  the  offensive  gases  for  the  food  of 
plants.  They  have  a  slow  but  good  effect,  scattered 
among  trees,  and  are  particularly  valuable  in  the  forma- 
tion of  walks  and  roads. 

351.  Since  ashes  lose  some  of  their  good  qualities  by 
having  ley  drawn  from  them  by  leaching,  Ley  itself  must 
be  useful  as  a  manure  ;  and  not  only  ley,  but  that  which 
is  left  after  the  ley  has  been  made  into  soap  by  combining 
with  fats  and  oils,  and  done  its  office  as  soap  by  taking- 
dirt  from  clothes,  dishes,  faces  and  hands.  Soap  suds 
and  dish  water,  therefore,  are  so  valuable  that  they  ought 
never  to  be  lost  or  thrown  away.  They  have  an  excellent 
effect  if  sprinkled  upon  grass  or  other  growing  crops,  or 
poured  upon  compost  heaps. 

352.  Soot  is  a  precious  manure,  since  it  is  made  up 
of  carbon,  in  the  state  of  the  finest  powder,  and  is  full  of 
volatile  salts.  In  Flanders,  it  is  reserved  for  beds  of  colza, 
which  it  protects  against  plant  lice.  In  England,  it  is 
scattered  upon  meadows,  where  it  promotes  the  vegeta- 
tion of  grass,  while  it  destroys  moss.  Three  large  crops 
of  clover  have  been  got  in  one  year  by  the  use  of  it.  The 
soot  from  bituminous  coal  is  still  better  than  that  from 
wood. 

353.  As  Carbonate  of  Potash  and  Carbonate  of  Soda  are 
forms  in  which  potash  and  soda  are  found  in  ashes, 


106  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

thej  must  have  the  same  effects  as  ashes,  only  in  a  more 
decided  manner. 

354.  The  salts  of  ammonia,  especially  the  nitrate,  are 
very  valuable  as  manures,  and  are  particularly  applicable 
to  soils  already  rich  in  phosphates,  or  which  contain  vege- 
table acids.  Sulphate  of  Ammonia,  Avhich  may  be  obtained 
at  a  moderate  price  at  the  manufactories  of  gas,'  is  excel- 
lent, when  applied  in  small  quantities,  to  fields  of  meadow 
hay  or  of  wheat. 

355.  Nitrate  of  Potash,  East  India  saltpetre,  is  nitric 
acid  and  potash  united.  As  might  be  expected,  both 
nitrate  of  potash  and  Nitrate  of  Soda,  South  American 
saltpetre,  yielding  not  only  nitrogen  but  potash  and  soda 
to  plants,  are  particularly  beneficial  to  wheat  and  to 
barley. 

356.  And,  as  the  plants  grown  in  the  fields  must  supply 
the  phosphate  of  lime  which  is  essential  to  the  growth  of 
the  bones  of  all  animals,  and  this  ingredient  in  soil  is 
likely  to  be  exhausted.  Phosphate  and  Super-phosphate  of  Lime 
are  of  the  very  greatest  value  as  manures.  Phosphate  of 
lime  is  usually  applied  in  the  shape  of  ground  bones,  and 
super-phosphate,  as  bones  dissolved  by  sulphuric  acid  and 
diluted  with  water,  applied  either  in  a  liquid  state,  or 
reduced  to  powder  by  drying. 

357.  All  the  elements  in  the  salts  of  ammonia,  of  potash 
and  of  lime,  here  spoken  of,  are  either  taken  up  by  plants, 
or  exert  a  most  important  influence  upon  the  humus  in 
the  soil,  hastening  the  process  of  decay,  and  converting 
insoluble  into  soluble  salts. 

358.  Common  salt  is  also  sometimes  of  great  value  as 
a  fertilizer.  For  some  plants,  asparagus,  for  example,  it 
is  of  indisputable  importance,  and  may  be  employed  in 
very  large  quantities.     It  not  only  enriches  the  soil  for 


COMMON   SALT. — OBJECT    OP   MANURES.  107 

asparagus,  but  it  kills  nearly  all  the  weeds ;  and  as  weeds 
are  commonly  nothing  but  valuable  plants  out  of  place, 
it  must  be  iised  with  discretion,  or  it  may  do  more  harm 
than  good. 

Applied  in  small  quantities,  it  has  the  effect  of  render- 
ing grass  and  clover  more  pleasant  to  animals,  and,  in  a 
small  proportion,  it  is  of  the  greatest  value  to  all  cultivated 
crops.  It  is  also  a  valuable  addition  to  the  farmyard 
and  to  the  compost  heap.  Salt  which  has  been  used  in 
curing  fish  or  meats  is  much  cheaper  and  far  better  than 
pure  salt. 

359.  The  object  of  manures  is  to  give  to  the  soil  what- 
ever is  wholly  or  partly  wanting  to  it,  whether  of  a  com- 
bustible or  an  incombustible  nature.  The  use  of  organic 
manures  is  to  furnish  the  soil  with  humus,  geine  or 
mould,  which  shall  serve  as  a  reservoir,  to  hold  in  readi- 
ness,  for  the  use  of  plants,  all  the  kinds  of  food  necessary 
to  their  growth.  And  the  use  of  humus  is  to  furnish  and 
keep  a  ready  supply  of  carbonic  acid,  ammonia  and  water, 
which  three  arc  the  last  result  o^  the  decomposition  of 
vegetable  substances. 

360.  Such  being  the  object,  organic  manures  should  be 
employed  in  a  condition  favorable  to  decomposition,  either 
in  a  fermented  state  or,  better  still,  ready  to  enter  into 
fermentation.  Manures  which  sliould  refuse  to  decom- 
pose would  be  of  no  use.  But  the  decomposition  must 
not  be  too  far  advanced.  Ammonia  is  very  volatile,  as 
its  common  name  indicates,  and  may  readily  escape  into 
the  air  and  be  lost.  The  penetrating,  characteristic  odor 
of  ammonia  is  perceived  in  stables,  near  manure  heaps, 
and  wherever  else^  nitrogenous  substances,  that  is,  vege- 
table and  animal  substances  containing  nitrogen,  are  in  a 
state  of  decay.     Every  one  who  has  had  occasion  to  use 

10* 


108  OF    B^ERTILIZERS. 

a  smelling  bottle,  knows  the  effect  of  ammonia  upon  the 
organs  of  smell. 

When  the  manure  is  immediately  covered  up,  the 
ammonia,  r.G  it  is  disengaged,  is  kept  in  the  soil,  espe- 
cially if  there  be  clay  or  loam  or  something  else  present 
which  has  an  attraction  for  it. 

361.  Organic  Manures  are  divided  into  Vegetable  Ma- 
nures, Animal  Manures,  and  Mixtures  of  Vegetable  and 
Animal. 

The  principal  vegetable  manures  are  green  crops,  kelp 
and  rock-weeds,  straw,  sedge  or  reeds,  leaves,  brewer's 
grains,  &c. 

362.  Green  Manures  are  standing  crops,  ploughed  in, 
if  possible,  when  ripe,  for  it  is  then  that  they  contain  the 
greatest  quantity  of  soluble  matter.  The  best  plants  for 
the  purpose  are  the  different  kinds  of  clover,  lucerne  and 
sainfoin,  vetches,  buckwheat,  cabbage-leaves,  radishes, 
turnip-tops,  wild  mustard  and  wild  turnip,  potato-tops, 
Indian  corn,  rye,  &c.  Yet  fiomo  of  these  are  better 
suited  to  certain  soils  than  others. 

To  be  suited  to  this  purpose,  plants  should  grow  rap- 
idly, so  as  not  to  occupy  the  land  too  long ;  their  seed 
should  be  cheap,  and  they  should  be  plants  which  borrow 
most  of  their  elements  from  the  atmosphere.  Such  plants 
bestow  upon  the  soil  more  than  they  receive  from  it. 

363.  The  green  crops  best  suited  to  light  and  sandy 
soils  are  buckwheat,  the  clovers,  cabbages,  radishes,  wild 
mustard,  potato  and  turnip-tops,  rye,  and  Indian  corn. 
For  stiff,  clayey  soils,  beans  and  pease,  the  different  kinds 
of  clover,  vetches,  &c.  But  green  crops  are  less  suited  to 
clayey  than  to  any  other  kind  of  soil.  For  calcareous 
soils  they  are  exceedingly  advantageous,  as  such   soils 


GREEN  CROPS  AS  FERTILIZERS.  109 

need  no  lime.  For  all  other  soils,  especially  clayey  soils, 
lime-  should  be  scattered  profusely  upon  the  green  crop 
at  the  time  it  is  ploughed  in.  On  very  dry,  sandy  soils, 
the  use  of  green  manures  is  very  beneficial,  as  they 
speedily  decay  in  such  soils  and  supply  vegetable  mould, 
which,  being  retentive  of  water,  does  something  to  correct 
the  want  of  such  soils  and  is  very  serviceable  in  time  of 
drought. 

364.  Green  manuring  is  particularly  applicable  to  moun- 
tainous districts,  and  those  remote  from  the  homestead, 
where  the  expense  of  carriage  of  other  manures  would 
be  too  considerable,  and  also  to  poor  soils  deficient  in  clay, 
and  which,  on  that  account,  imperfectly  retain  water. 

365.  For  winter  wheat,  or  winter  rye,  to  both  of  which 
green  manures  are  well  suited,  the  land  should  be  ploughed 
deep  in  spring,  and  the  seed  for  a  green  crop  be  sown  so 
that  it  shall  be  ripe  a  week  or  two  before  the  winter  grain 
is  to  be  sown.  The  green  crop  sown  with  lime  or  plaster 
should  be  ploughed  in  to  a  moderate  depth,  say  two  to 
four  inches,  and,  just  as  the  decomposition  is  beginning, 
the  wheat  or  rye  should  be  sown.  The  grain,  as  it  sprouts, 
and  while  it  is  young,  will  thus  take  advantage  of  the 
ammonia  and  other  products  of  the  vegetable  decay. 

366.  Where  land  is  very  much  infested  with  weeds,  two 
green  crops  may  be  grown,  the  same  season,  and  ploughed 
in  before  the  weeds  are  ripe.  Most  of  the  seeds  of  the 
early  and  also  of  the  late  weeds  will  thus  be  made  to  come 
up,  and  the  plants  be  turned  in,  with  the  green  crop,  for 
the  benefit  of  tlie  soil. 

367.  The  addition  to  the  soil  is  not  the  only  advantage 
of  green  manures.  The  mechanical  condition  of  the 
ground  is  remarkably  altered  by  the  ploughing  in  of 
plants  and  their  remains.     A  tenacious  soil  thereby  loses 


110  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

its  cohesion;  it  becomes  more  friable  and  more  readily 
pulverized  than  by  the  most  careful  ploughing.  In  a 
sandy  soil,  coherence  may  be  given-  Each  stem,  of  the 
green  plants  ploughed  in,  opens,  by  its  decay,  a  road  by 
which  the  delicate  rootlets  of  the  future  plant  may  ramify 
in  all  directions  to  seek  their  food. 

368.  Kelp  and  rock-weed  are  very  valuable  as  a  ma- 
nure. They  contain  a  good  deal  of  nitrogen  and  a 
large  proportion  of  alkaline  and  earthy  salts,  and,  as 
they  undergo  decomposition  more  rapidly  than  other 
green  manures,  so  their  effect  upon  vegetation  is,  propor- 
tionally, much  more,  powerful,  but  it  is  also  much  less 
lasting.  The  slender,  grass-like  sea-weed,  also  called  eel- 
grass,  has  very  little  value  as  a  manure,  as  it  has  little 
substance,  and  jaelds  very  slowly  to  decay,  but  is  still 
valuable  for  its  mechanical  effects  upon  heavy  soils. 

Kelp  and  rock-weed  may  be  ploughed  in,  like  other 
green  manures,  but  this  should  be  done  as  soon  as  possi- 
ble, or,  if  this  is  not  practicable,  they  should  be  stratified 
with  earth  and  lime,  in  order  to  convert  them  into  a  com- 
post, or  they  may  be  mixed  with  ordinary  manure. 

These  sea-weeds  act  beneficially  on  all  ordinary  crops. 
If  spread  upon  grass  in  spring  or  early  summer,  they 
promote  its  growth ;  and  a  crop  of  grain  subsequently 
obtained  from  such  a  soil,  is  said  to  be  much  improved, 
at  least  in  quantity,  for  the  quality  is  thought  to  be  dete- 
riorated. In  the  north  of  Scotland,  farmers  prefer  kelp 
and  rock-weed  to  any  other  manure  for  cabbages.  They 
form  an  excellent  manure  for  flax  and  hemp,  the  flax 
obtained  being  improved  tliereby,  both  in  quantity  and 
quality.  Rye,  oats,  turnips  and  clover  are  benefited  by 
that  manure.     Their  action  upon  vegetables  is  immediate 


GREEN   MANURES. LEAVES.  Ill 

but  does  not  last  long,  showing  its  effects,  however,  more 
the  second  year  than  the  first. 

369.  The  straw  and  leaves  of  particular  vegetables  are 
the  best  manure  for  those  vegetables,  wheat  straw  for 
wheat,  potato-tops  for  potatoes,  and  the  leaves  and  prun- 
ings  of  grape  vines  for  those  vines. 

Straw  ploughed  into  stiff  clay  soils  renders  them  more 
porous  and  thus  lets  in  the  air,  and  causes  decay  not  only 
of  the  straw  but  of  the  organic  matter  previously  existing 
there.  Wheat  and  other  grain  stubble  on  stiff  soils 
should  be  ploughed  in  soon  after  the  grain  is  removed, 
both  for  the  reason  just  given,  in  regard  to  straw,  and 
because,  the  fresher  the  roots,  the  more  rapidly  do  they 
decompose.     This  does  not  hold  true  for  light  sandy  land. 

For  hay  land,  or  land  to  be  laid  down  to  grass,  damaged 
hay,  not  fit  for  animals,  is  valuable  as  a  manure.  Sedge 
and  the  reed-grass  of  salt  marshes  are  also  of  use,  but 
less  valuable  than  the  substances  just  mentioned. 

370.  The  leaves  from  different  trees  have  very  different 
degrees  of  value.  Poplar  leaves,  oak  leaves  and  chestnut, 
beech,  and  maple  leaves,  are  rich  in  nutritive  matters, 
while  thinner  leaves  and  pine  leaves  contain  very  little 
nourishment  for  plants.  The  leaves  of  the  larch  are  con- 
sidered favorable  to  grasses,  from  the  fact  that  hills 
planted  with  larches  afford  better  pasturage  than  they 
had  furnished  when  they  were  bare.  But  this  may  be 
the  consequence  of  the  land  being  shaded.  All  leaves 
should  be  ploughed  in  as  soon  as  possible  after  they  have 
fallen.  Leaves,  grasses,  young  twigs,  and  all  other  green 
vegetable  matter,  the  very  element  of  humus,  are  ^^aluable 
as  manures,  and  their  value  is  greater  in  proportion  to 
their  freshness  when  ploughed  in ;  and  whatever  is  val- 
uable in  this  way  is  A'aluable  for  the  compost  heap. 


112  OF    FERTILIZERS. 

371.  Animal  Manures.  They  are  more  powerful  than 
vegetable  or  mixed  manures,  on  account  of  the  great 
quantity  of  nitrogen  which  they  contain,  and  the  impor- 
tant salts  which  exist  in  them.  The  nitrogen  unites  with 
hydrogen,  and  forms  ammonia,  and  this  the  ammoniacal 
salts.  These  dissolve  other  mineral  substances,  and  are 
absorbed  by  water,  which  carries  them  down  to  the  roots 
of  plants.  The  more  abundant  these  elements  of  plant 
food  are,  the  more  rapidly  will  they  enter  into  plants,  and 
the  surer  and  more  abundant  will  be  the  crops.  The 
more  completely  the  soil  has  been  mixed  and  pulverized, 
the  more  readily  will  the  roots  reach  their  supply  of  food. 

372.  The  flesh  of  quadrupeds,  fishes  and  other  dead 
animals,  contains  about  50  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and  from 
13  to  17  of  nitrogen,  besides  water,  salts  of  potash  and 
soda,  of  lime  and  of  magnesia,  and  is  therefore  one  of 
the  very  best  manures  that  can  be. 

These  substances,  and  all  offal  and  animal  refuse,  should 
never  be  applied  directly  to  the  soil,  but  made  into  a  com- 
post. 

373.  The  best  way  of  disposing  of  the  carcass  of  a  dead 
animal  is  to  place  it  in  a  hole  one  or  two  feet  deep, 
sprinkle  an  abundance  of  quick-lime  upon  it,  then  throw 
on  a  layer  of  earth,  then  a  layer  of  plaster,  then  a  layer 
of  earth  mixed  with  powdered  copperas,  and  then  a  suffi- 
cient depth  of  earth.  The  plaster  and  copperas  absorb 
the  ammonia  and  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  as  they  arc 
formed,  and  prevent  all  unpleasant  effluvia. 

In  a  few  weeks,  the  heap  may  be  opened,  tlie  bones  sep- 
arated, to  be  used  in  bone  manure,  and  the  remaining 
mass  turned  over  and  mixed,  if  necessary,  with  additional 
earth.  This,  repeated  once  or  twice,  will  make  the  sub- 
stance ready  for  use.     {Normandy.')     Tlie  body  of  a  dead 


SULPHURETTED    HYDROGEN.^ — ANIMAL    MANURES.      113 

horse'  can  convert  twenty  tons  of  peat  into  a  manure 
richer  and  more  lasting  than  stable  manure. — Dana. 

374.  Sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  a  nauseously  smelling 
compound  of  sulphur  and  hydrogen.  It  gives  its  peculiar 
smell  to  a  rotten  egg.  When  dead  fish  or  fish  offal  is 
thrown  upon  land,  it  not  only  diffuses  a  most  offensive 
smell  to  a  great  distance,  but  it  imparts  a  very  disagree- 
able flavor  to  the  crops,  and  also  to  the  milk  and  to  the 
butter  made  from  the  milk  of  cows  who  feed  upon  such 
crops. 

375.  Hoofs,  hair,  feathers,  skins,  wool,  and  blood,  con- 
tain more  than  50  per  cent,  of  carbon,  and  from  13  to  18 
of  nitrogen,  besides  sulphur,  and  salts  of  lime,  of  soda  and 
of  magnesia.  They  therefore  hold  the  first  rank  among 
manures,  and,  as  a  long  time  is  required  for  their  decom- 
position, their  action  may  last  for  seven  or  eight  years. 
They  yield  excellent  results,  made  into  a  compost  for 
potatoes,  turnips,  or  hops,  or  for  meadow  land. 

376.  Hair,  spread  upon  meadows,  augments  the  crop 
threefold  ;  and,  the  Chinese,  who  know  its  value,  collect  it 
every  time  they  have  their  head  shaved, — and  the  opera- 
tion is  performed  once  a  fortnight, — and  sell  it  to  the 
farmers.  The  crop  of  hair,  from  the  head  of  each  indi- 
vidual, amounts,  in  a  year,  to  about  half  a  pound.  Every 
million  of  persons  therefore  affords  two  hundred  and  fifty 
tons  of  hair,  that  is,  of  manure  of  the  most  valuable  kind, 
since  it  represents  at  least  two  thousand  five  hundred 
tons  of  ordinary  barnyard  manure,  and  wdiicli  might  be 
collected  without  trouble,  but  which  is  now  invariably 
lost.  You  may  calculate  what  must  be  tlie  loss  for  the 
State,  and  for  the  whole  United  States. 

377.  Blood,  besides  more  than  52  per  cent,  of  carbon 
and  17  per  cent,  of  nitrogen,  contains  soluble  salts,  such 


114  OF    FERTILIZERS. 

as  common  salt,  phosphates,  sulphates  and  carbonates  of 
potash,  soda,  &c.,  water,  and  some  insoluble  salts,  namely 
phosphate  of  lime  and  of  magnesia.  Like  flesh,  it  should 
be  made  into  a  compost  with  otlier  substances,  and  it  thus 
becomes  a  very  valuable  manure  for  light  soils,  while  its 
effect  on  clayey  soils  is  less  obvious. 

378.  Bones  contain  more  than  53  per  cent,  of  phosphate 
of  lime,  a  little  phosphate  of  magnesia,  some  carbonate  of 
soda,  &c.,  and  more  than  7  per  cent,  of  nitrogen.  Their 
principal  value  is  owing  to  the  quantity  of  the  phosphates 
they  contain,  as  these  salts  are  largely  removed  from  a 
soil  by  the  feeding  of  cattle  and  by  successive  crops. 
These  salts  remain  after  the  bones  have  been  deprived  of 
their  fatty  substance  by  the  soap-boiler,  though  most  of 
the  nitrogen  is  lost.  Bones  should  be  ground  before 
being  used,  and  may  be  applied  at  the  rate  of  ten  or 
twelve  hundred  Aveight  to  the  acre.  Even  when  ground, 
they  produce  effects  which  may  be  seen  for  several  years. 

379.  The  action  of  bones  may  be  accelerated  by  con- 
verting their  phosphates  into  perphosphates  or  super- 
phosphates, which  is  done  by  mixing  the  ground  bones 
with  half  their  weight  of  sulphuric  acid  diluted  with  three 
or  four  times  its  bulk  of  water.  This  is  to  be  thoroughly 
mixed  and  left  a  day  or  two  at  rest.  One  barrel  of  the 
pasty  mass  may  then  be  mixed  with  one  hundred  barrels 
of  water  and  sprinkled  upon  the  field  from  a  water-cart 
or  by  scoops.  Or  the  perphosphate  may  be  mixed  with  a 
large  quantity  of  earth,  or  sawdust,  soot  or  powdered  char- 
coal, and  thus  applied  to  the  land. 

380.  It  is  easy  to  see  how  it  comes  that  animal  manures 
are  so  valuable.  Animals  live  almost  wholly  upon  sub- 
stances derived  from  the  vegetable  kingdom.  Tliesc  sub- 
stances, restored  to  the  earth,  from  which  and  from  the 


MIXED    MANURES.  115 

air  they  must  originally  have  come,  are  naturally,  there 
fore,  the  very  most  important  elements  of  the  food  of 
plants. 

381.  Mixed  Manures.  It  is  the  uniform  experience  of  all 
farmers  and  gardeners  in  all  parts  of  the  world,  that  barn 
manure,  that  which  comes  from  tlie  stable,  the  cow-house, 
the  sheep-fold,  the  pig-sty  and  other  similar  sources,  is,  on 
the  whole,  the  most  valuable  and  the  most  universal  in  its 
beneficial  effects  of  all  known  manures.  Other  manures 
have  great  value  for  particular  purposes.  This  is  useful 
for  all.  It  is  the  only  manure  which  keeps  up  the  fer- 
tility of  all  kinds  of  land.  This  is  just  what  we  should 
expect.  Many  plants  are  cultivated  as  food  for  cattle 
and  other  animals.  The  concentrated  essence  of  the 
nutritious  elements  of  plants  goes  to  form  the  bodies  of 
animals ;  and  we  have  just  seen  how  extremely  valuable 
as  manure,  is  every  part  of  those  bodies.  A  portion  is 
converted  into  milk.  We  know  how  precious,  primarily 
as  food  and  indirectly  as  furnishing  butter  and  cheese,  the 
milk  of  cows  is.  In  the  mountains  of  Europe,  and  among 
the  poorer  classes,  the  milk  of  goats  and  of  sheep,  is  not 
less  precious.  In  the  great  plains  of  Arabia  and  Tartary, 
the  same  priceless  advantages  are  afforded  by  the  milk  of 
the  camel  and  the  mare. 

All  these  valuable  elements  of  vegetable  food,  except  the 
comparatively  small  portion  which  is  converted  into  flesh 
or  milk,  are  or  should  be  thrown  upon  the  manure  heap. 

382.  Manure  is  of  such  primary  importance  upon  every 
farm,  and  there  is  so  much  danger  that  valuable  portions 
of  it  should  be  washed  away  by  rain  and  lost  in  the  earth, 
or  dried  up  by  the  sun,  or  wafted  away  by  the  winds,  that 
particular  care  should  be  taken  to  secure  it. 

The  best  and  most  convenient  arrangement,  when  it 

can  be  made,  is  to  have  the  manure  fall  into  a  cellar 
11 


116  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

immediately  under  the  stable  or  cow-house.  And  care 
should  be  taken  that  no  portion,  liquid  or  solid,  should  be 
lost.  If  it  be  left  exposed  to  the  open  air,  and  suffered 
to  be  drenched  by  rain,  or  parched  up  by  the  sun,  a  great 
quantity  of  the  products  of  its  decomposition  will  be  vola- 
tilized or  washed  away.  There  is  danger  also  of  its  heat- 
ing, from  tlie  process  of  decomposition  which  immediately 
begins,  especially  in  the  cellar  under  the  stable  for  horses. 
The  temperature  should  not  be  permitted  to  exceed  100° 
of  Fahrenheit,  and  if  a  smell  of  ammonia  be  perceived,  it 
is  a  proof  that  the  valuable  products  of  its  decomposition 
are  wasting ;  and  means  must  be  immediately  employed 
to  fix  them,  that  is,  make  them  combine  with  something 
else,  and  thus  prevent  their  loss. 

383.  This  can  be  done  by  watering  the  manure  heap 
with  dilute  sulphuric  acid,  or  a  solution  of  copperas, 
(sulphate  of  iron,)  or  by  sprinkling  plaster  over  it,  when 
the  odor  of  ammonia  will  immediately  disappear.  In  a 
cellar,  however,  where  the  liquid  manure  is  as  carefully 
saved  as  the  solid,  and  into  which  a  stream  of  water  may 
be  directed  by  a  spout  from  the  gutter  under  the  eaves, 
there  will  seldom  be  danger  of  heating,  and  a  little  fresh 
garden  soil  or  loam  thrown  in  may  produce  all  the  most 
important  effects  of  tlie  chemical  substances. 

384.  By  Decomposition  is  meant  a  change  among  the 
elements  of  a  compound  substance  and  their  union  in 
other  forms.  This  takes  place  in  consequence  of  the 
attraction  which  the  elements  have  for  the  oxygen  of  the 
air  and  of  water.  The  vital  principle  counteracts  this 
attraction.  In  an  egg,  for  example,  as  long  as  there  is 
life  in  it,  the  contents  remain  unchanged  and  are  ready 
to  be  waked  up  into  a  living  creature.  But  as  soon  as 
the  life  is  gone,  decomposition  begins,  the   sulphur  and 


DECOMPOSITION. — FERMENTATION.  117 

hydrogen  in  the  egg,  warmed  a  little,  attract  each  other 
and  form  sulphuretted  hydrogen,  which  is  ready  to  fly 
off,  and  oxygen  unites  with  the  other  ingredients,  forming 
new  compounds. 

385.  Fermentation.  The  oxygen  of  the  air  is  always 
ready  to  unite  with  other  elements.  If  the  juices  of 
plants  containing  sugar,  such  as  cider,  or  wine,  for 
example,  be  carefully  kept  from  the  air,  they  remain 
sweet.  But  if  the  air  be  admitted,  the  albumen  of  the 
juice  changes  gradually  and  causes  the  decomposition 
of  sugar,  which  is  commonly  called  Vinous  Fermentation. 
If  this  is  allowed  to  continue,  the  sugar  will  be  changed 
into  carbonic  acid  and  alcohol. 

Weak  wine,  cider  or  beer,  exposed  to  air,  at  the  tem- 
perature of  from  70°  to  90°,  gradually  grows  warmer, 
and  becomes  thick  by  slender  threads  moving  in  every 
direction  through  it,  with  a  low  hissing  noise.  When  the 
noise  has  ceased,  and  the  threads  have  attached  them- 
selves to  the  sides  and  bottom  of  the  vessel,  the  liquor, 
now  become  clear,  has  passed  through  the  Acetous  Fer- 
mentation, and  become  acetic  acid  or  vinegar. 

386.  The  final  products  of  complete  decay  ^are  univer- 
sally the  same.  The  carbon  of  organic  bodies  combines 
with  oxygen  and  forms  carbonic  acid.  The  hydrogen 
unites  with  oxygen  and  forms  water,  or  with  nitrogen 
and  forms  ammonia ;  or  with  sulphur  and  phosphorus, 
forming  sulphuretted  and  phosphuretted  hydrogen.  The 
incombustible  matters  alone  remain.  Moisture  and 
warmth  are  necessary  at  the  beginning  and  at  every  stage 
of  decomposition.  To  prevent  it,  therefore,  we  have  only 
to  keep  the  substance  cold  and  dry. 

387.  It  is  desirable  to  keep  the  stable  and  cow-house 
always  clean  and  sweet ;  and  this  may  be  effectually  done 
by  sprinkling  a  little  plaster  upon  the  floor  once  a  day. 


118  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

We  commonly  think  that  a  stable  or  a  cow-house  is 
necessarily  a  dirty  place.  Why  ought  it  to  be  kept  clean 
and  sweet  ?  It  is  almost  quite  as  essential  to  the  health 
and  comfort  of  horses  or  of  cows,  that  they  should  be  kept 
clean  and  allowed  to  breathe  a  pure  atmosphere,  as  it  is 
for  the  health  and  comfort  of  human  beings.  Besides, 
cows  are  often  milked  in  their  stalls;  and  if  so  pene- 
trating a  substance  as  ammonia  fill  the  air  there,  it  will 
necessarily  be  absorbed  by  the  milk  and  give  it  a  bad  taste 
and  smell. 

The  cost  of  a  little  plaster  is  very  trifling.  Enough  to 
answer  the  purpose  for  a  whole  winter  will  not  cost  a  dol- 
lar ;  and  the  value  of  the  manure  will  be  increased  far 
more  than  that,  so  that  you  have  only  to  pay  a  little  pains 
for  the  pleasure  of  being  clean  and  having  the  animals 
clean,  with  a  sweet  smelling  place  for  them  to  live  in  and 
yourself  to  go  to. 

388.  The  products  of  the  stable,  of  the  cow-house,  of 
the  sheep-fold  and  of  the  pig-sty,  are  not  of  quite  the 
same  composition  and  value.  They  are  different  and 
suited  to  different  uses.  As  a  general  rule,  the  contents 
of  the  cellar  under  the  cows  and  oxen  are  more  fit  for 
very  dry,  light  soils,  and  those  from  the  horse-stable  for 
stiff,  clayey  soils.  The  scrapings  of  the  sheep-fold  are 
better  suited  to  meadow  lands,  as  they  often  impart  a  dis- 
agreeable flavor  to  culinary  vegetables ;  and  the  same  is 
true  of  the  contents  of  the  pig-sty. 

The  common  practice  of  throwing  every  kind  of  manure 
into  one  cellar,  to  form  one  heap,  is  not  a  bad  one. 

When  the  soil  to  be  cultivated  is  an  average  soil,  neither 
a  stiff  clay  nor  a  dry  sand,  but  a  free,  arable  soil,  the 
practice  is  a  very  good  one.  The  defects  of  one  kind  of 
manure  are  corrected  by  the  qualities  of  another,  and 


MIXED  MANURES. — CARE  OF  MANURES.       119 

such  mixed  manure  will  be  neither  too  cold  nor  liable  to 
heat  and  burn.  It  is  of  manures  of  this  kind  that  the 
French  proverbs  have  been  made:  "A  small  manure 
heap  never  fills  a  large  corn  bin."  ''It  is  not  he  that 
sows  but  he  that  manures  well  that  gets  the  crop." 
"Less  seed  and  more  manure."  "  Without  mamire  there 
are  no  good  fields  ;  with  plenty  of  manure  there  are  no 
poor  ones." 

389.  The  best  materials  for  litter  or  bedding  for  cattle 
and  horses  are  straw  of  every  kind,  damaged  hay,  sedge, 
reeds,  leaves,  sawdust.  If  these  cannot  conveniently  be 
had,  turf  may  be  used,  or  loam,  or  even  sand,  which  has 
the  advantage  of  keeping  animals  free  from  lice.  It 
should  be  something  which  will  help  to  make  them  warm 
in  cold  weather,  and  dry  and  clean  at  all  times.  Horses 
and  cattle  should  be  always  kept  nicely  clean.  Both  look 
better,  fare  better  and  fatten  better,  when  they  are  care- 
fully curried  or  carded  and  rubbed  every  day. 

It  is  an  excellent  plan  to  have  the  cellar  floor  of  clay 
firmly  rammed  and  made  even,  but  sloping  towards  the 
middle  from  the  sides,  and  from  the  middle  towards  one 
end.  There,  in  a  place  easily  reached,  should  be  a  hollow 
to  receive  the  liquid  from  the  heap.  The  manure  will  be 
greatly  benefited  and  prevented  from  heating,  by  pouring 
this  liquid,  from  time  to  time,  upon  the  top  of  the  manure 
heap.  Or,  if  the  heap  does  not  need  it,  it  may  be  poured, 
with  great  advantage,  upon  compost  heaps.  Flemish 
manure  is  a  liquid  manure  formed  in  a  cistern,  to  which 
drains  from  the  bottom  of  vaults  bring  the  most  valuable 
of  all  manures.  Into  this  cistern  water  is  made  to  run, 
which  completely  dissolves  and  dilutes  whatever  is  in  the 
vault.  The  liquid  is  sprinkled  by  a  watering  cart  over 
meadows  and  growing  crops,  witli  striking  effects. 
11* 


120  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

390.  A  valuable  liquid  manure  is  formed  by  mixing 
with  the  liquid  from  the  manure  lieap  any  other  rich  sub- 
stances with  a  large  quantity  of  water,  which  is  to  be 
poured  by  means  of  the  sprinkling  cart  upon  growing 
crops. 

It  can  be  applied,  advantageously,  to  those  fields  which 
are  already  rich  enough  in  humus  or  mould,  as  one  great 
benefit  of  the  application  of  manures  in  a  solid  form  is  to 
furnish  a  permanent  reservoir  for  moisture,  carbonic  acid, 
and  ammonia,  and  other  elements  of  the  food  of  plants 
capable  of  being  dissolved  in  water  or  of  being  absorbed 
by  decayed  vegetables,  and  kept  ready  for  the  use  of 
plants. 

391.  What  is  the  most  valuable  of  all  manures,  the 
statement  of  a  few  facts  will  enable  you  to  judge.  The 
principal  object  in  view  in  the  cultivation  of  all  cereal 
plants,  all  leguminous  vegetables,  all  fruits  and  nearly  all 
roots,  is,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  furnish  food  for  man. 
Most  of  the  animals  which  he  has  domesticated,  the  sheep, 
the  ox,  the  swine,  all  kinds  of  domestic  fowls,  the  birds 
shot  by  the  fowler  and  the  fishes  caught  by  the  fisherman, 
are  intended  to  supply  his  table.  Now,  of  all  these  sub- 
stances, vegetable,  fish,  flesh  and  fowl,  which  enter  into 
the  human  system  as  food  or  as  drink,  for  the  supply  of 
man's  wants  or  as  luxuries,  all,  except  the  little  which  is 
Tised  to  build  up  and  to  renew  his  body,  is  thrown  away 
and  is  usually  lost. 

392.  Chemical  analysis  entirely  confirms  the  conclusions 
of  common  sense  in  this  matter.  The  body  itself,  as  is 
well  known,  is  continually  changing;  its  substance  is 
becoming  effete  and  its  elements  are  constantly  renewed. 
Chemical  analysis  shows  that  all  the  substances  which 
have  been  enumerated  as  the  elements  of  plants,  all  the 


CARE   OF   MANURES.  121 

gases,  the  carbon,  sulphur  and  phosphorus,  all  the  alkalies 
and  all  the  earths  and  metals,  are  not  only  found  in  the 
substance  of  the  different  parts  of  the  human  body,  in 
the  bones,  the  brain,  the  flesh,  the  tendons,  the  skin,  and 
the  delicate  humors  between  them,  but  they  are  all  found 
in  those  substances  which  have  formed  a  part  of  the 
human  body  or  have  been  within  it,  and  have  been  cast 
out,  after  having  performed  their  necessary  and  beneficent 
offices. 

Now  all  these  substances,  literally  the  concentrated 
essence  of  soils,  of  vegetable  and  of  animal  organization, 
are  usually  thrown  away  and  lost.  If  restored  to  the 
soil,  they  would  more  effectually  renew  it,  and  restore  its 
fertility  than  all  other  manures  and  amendments  put 
together,  and  yet  they  are  allowed  to  escape  and  to  be 
utterly  wasted.  And  not  only  are  they  wasted  and  lost. 
Substances  which,  if  properly  preserved  and  husbanded, 
would  render  fertile  as  a  garden  the  neighborhood  of  all 
great  towns  and  cities,  and  would  keep  up  the  fertility  of 
all  the  farms  throughout  the  country,  are  now  allowed  to 
flow  away  into  drains  and  sewers  and  to  poison  the  atmos- 
phere of  towns  and  the  waters  of  the  rivers.  There  is 
scarcely  any  other  instance  of  so  enormous  a  waste. 
Chiefly  in  consequence  of  this  waste,  the  farms,  in  all  the 
older  parts  of  the  country,  are  becoming,  or  are  already 
become,  far  less  productive  than  they  originally  were. 
Even  in  those  parts  of  New  York  and  of  the  West  that 
have  been  longest  settled,  though  all  recently  settled,  the 
fields  are  already  losing  their  fertility  from  the  same  cause. 

393.  What  means  ought  to  be  employed  to  prevent  this 
waste  ?  Economy,  as  well  as  regard  for  cleanliness  and 
health,  demands  that  measures  should  everywhere  be 
taken  to  save  all  these  substances,  of  every  kind,  liquid 


122  OP   FERTILIZERS. 

and  solid,  to  mix  them  with  such  substances  as  will  ren- 
der them  inoffensive,  and  afterwards  to  compost  them 
with  other  materials  for  manure  and  to  restore  them  to 
the  soil. 

394.  Many  substances  will  prevent  all  disagreeable  efflu- 
via ;  plaster,  copperas,  Glauber's  salt,  sulphuric  acid,  or, 
better  still,  Epsom  salts,  chloride  of  manganese,  sulphate 
and  chloride  of  zinc,  chloride  of  lime,  all  of  which  sub- 
stances can  be  procured  at  a  very  low  price.  Most  of 
these  are  completely  soluble  in  water.  Plaster  is  not  so, 
and  should  therefore  be  put  into  those  places  only  which 
are  regularly  and  thoroughly  cleared  out. 

395.  If  the  above  mentioned  substances  and  all  others 
capable  of  being  used  as  manure,  were  always  carefully 
husbanded  and  used,  there  would  be  no  necessity  for  the 
use  of  guano. 

Guano,  (pronounced  gooahno,)  is  the  Peruvian  name 
for  the  droppings  of  sea-fowls,  found  upon  certain  unin- 
habited islands  on  the  coast  of  Peru  and  of  Africa,  in  a 
climate  not  subject  to  rain.  Guano  has  been  accumu- 
lating there  for  an  unknown  length  of  time.  It  is  found 
in  deposits  of  great  depth  and  is  now  dug  out  and  ex- 
ported to  Europe  and  the  United  States,  as  a  substitute 
for  or  an  adjunct  to  farm  yard  manure.  Guano  consists 
principally  of  alkaline  and  earthy  phosphates,  and  of 
ammonia  and  ammoniacal  salts  or  compounds  capable  of 
being  resolved  into  ammonia. 

Good  guano,  exposed  to  a  heat  of  212°,  loses  not  more 
than  from  6  to  12  per  cent,  including  a  little  ammonia. 
Poor  guano,  or  that  which  is  in  a  state  of  advanced 
decomposition,  loses  as  much  as  35  or  even  40  per  cent, 
of  water. 


WELL   PREPARED    SOIL   LOSES   NO    MANURE.  123 

396.  Is  it  not  very  discouraging  that  after  all  the  pains 
a  farmer  takes  to  fill  his  soil  with  valuable  manure,  it 
should  be  all  washed  away  or  into  the  deep  earth  by  the 
rain  ?  It  would  be  very  discouraging  if  it  were  true,  but 
fortunately  it  is  not  true ;  as  is  made  very  apparent  by 
a  simple  experiment  or  two.  If  a  funnel  be  filled  with 
soil,  and  a  dilute  solution  of  silicate  of  potash  be  poured 
upon  it,  there  will  not  be  found  in  the  filtered  water,  as  it 
runs  out  of  the  funnel,  a  trace  of  potash,  and,  only  under 
certain  circumstances,  silicic  acid. 

If  a  funnel  be  filled  with  earth,  and  water,  holding  in 
solution  ammonia,  potash,  phosphoric  acid  and  silicic  acid, 
be  poured  into  it,  none  of  these  substances  will  be  found 
in  the  water  escaping  from  the  funnel.  The  soil  will  have 
completely  withdrawn  them  and  incorporated  them  with 
itself. 

397.  Or  make  another  experiment.  Take  a  portion  of 
garden  soil  full  of  potash,  silicic  acid,  ammonia,  or  phos- 
phoric acid,  put  it  into  a  funnel  and  pour  water  upon  it. 
The  water  will  not  dissolve  out  a  trace  of  it.  The  most 
continuous  rain  cannot  remove  from  a  field,  except 
mechanically,  that  is,  unless  it  carry  off  soil  and  all, 
any  of  the  essential  constituents  of  its  fertility.  It  is  a 
common  fear  that  the  nourishing  substances  in  liquid 
manure  and  in  guano,  will,  if  not  immediately  taken  up 
by  plants,  be  lost.  But  the  fear  is  wholly  unfounded. 
From  liquid  manure  diluted  with  much  water,  or  from  a 
solution  of  guano,  soil,  when  used  in  sufficient  quantity, 
removes  the  whole  of  the  ammonia,  potash,  and  phos- 
phoric acid  which  they  contain.  Not  a  trace  of  these 
substances  can  be  found  in  the  water  which  flows  from 
the  soil. 


124  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

398.  It  is  probable  that  plants  sometimes  obtain  min- 
eral elements  which  they  need  from  the  rocks  them- 
selves ;  and  there  are  some  facts  which  make  it  certain 
that  they  do  so.  We  frequently  find,  in  meadows,  smooth 
lime-stones  with  their  surfaces  covered  with  a  net  work 
of  small  furrows ;  and  we  find  that  each  furrow  corres- 
ponds to  a  rootlet,  which  appears  as  if  it  had  eaten  into 
the  stone.  So,  lichens  grow  upon  the  surface  of  bare 
rocks ;  and  forest  trees  form  vast  trunks,  full  of  potash 
and  other  salts,  on  the  rocky  soils  of  hills  from  which  all 
the  loose  soil  has  been  washed.  It  seems  probable  that 
their  rootlets  have  the  power  of  decomposing  the  rock 
and  taking  potash  from  the  felspar  or  mica  they  find  in 
them. — Liebisr. 

399.  Is  it  necessary  that  each  particular  element  of 
plants  should  be  present  in  the  soil  ?  Or,  if  one  be 
wanting,  cannot  plants  be  sustained  by  the  others  ? 

The  agriculturist  requires  eight  substances  in  his  soil, 
that  all  the  plants  may  flourish  luxuriently,  and  his  fields 
produce  the  largest  crops.  These  eight  substances  are  like 
eight  links  of  a  chain  round  a  wheel.  If  one  is  weak, 
the  chain  is  soon  broken,  and  the  missing  link  is  always 
the  most  important,  without  which  the  machine  cannot  be 
put  in  motion  by  the  wheel.  The  strength  of  the  chain 
depends  on  the  weakest  of  the  links. — Liehig. 

Those  eight  are  phosphoric  acid,  potash,  silicic  acid, 
sulphuric  acid,  lime,  magnesia,  iron,  and  chloride  of  sodi- 
um. All  these  are  essential  to  the  growth  of  plants. 
Still  more  essential  are  oxygen,  hydrogen,  nitrogen  and 
carbon ;  but  these  are  always  supplied  by  the  atmosphere, 
in  the  form  of  water,  ammonia  and  carbonic  acid. 

400.  If  we  cannot  obtain  stable  manure  or  other  ani- 
mal manure,  how  is  the  want  to  be  supplied  ?     Chemists 


COMPOSTS.  125 

know  exactly  what  substances  are  contained  in  stable 
manure,  and  they  are  able  to  point  out  artificial  manures 
which  contain  all  these  substances  and  may  be  used 
instead  of  stable  manure ;  and  the  most  important  of 
these  have  already  been  pointed  out  under  the  head  of 
inorganic  fertilizers. 

401.  Composts.  How  is  the  stable  manure  to  be  hus- 
banded £0  as  to  go  as  far  as  possible  ?  One  way  is  by 
the  proper  management  of  the  compost  heap.  Loads  of 
marsh  mud,  of  swamp  muck,  of  earth  from  bogs  and  the 
bottom  of  ponds  and  rivers,  are  to  be  thrown  into  the 
manure  cellar  or  upon  the  compost  heap.  The  manure 
heaps  and  the  compost  heaps  are  to  be  turned  over  and 
over,  till  the  contents  are  thoroughly  mixed. 

So  great  is  the  value  of  muck  or  swamp  mud,  for  this 
purpose,  that  a  farm  is  hardly  to  be  considered  complete 
without  a  swamp,  or  muck  hole.  Fresh  turf  forms  a  very 
valuable  addition  to  the  manure  cellar  and  compost  heap. 
This  may  be  taken  from  the  sides  of  roads  and  of  walls 
and  fences. 

Peat  taken  from  the  sea  side,  where  it  has  been  daily 
covered  with  sea  water,  and  mixed  with  one  seventh  its 
bulk  of  slacked  lime,  heats  and  ferments,  and  produces 
excellent  effects  as  a  manure.  Any  peat,  saturated  with 
strong  brine,  and  mixed  with  lime,  would  be  equally 
effective. — Dana. 

Every  farmer  should  make  his  own  compost  heaps, 
according  to  the  materials  he  has  for  them,  always  taking 
care  that  no  vegetable  or  animal  substance  be  allowed  to 
be  lost. 

Mud  from  the  bottom  of  lakes,  ponds  or  pools,  is  always 
of  much  value  as  a  material  for  composts,  especially  when 
it  has  been  long  lying  there.     In  every  piece  of  still  water, 


126  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

many  animal  and  vegetable  substances  will  have  collected 
and  been  completely  decomposed.  The  mud  at  the  bot- 
tom will  be  made  up  of  the  remains  of  these  substances 
and  of  earth  completely  saturated  with  their  elements. 
Such  mud  must  be  full  of  fertilizing  material.  It  is 
therefore  a  great  and  unnecessary  waste  to  allow  the 
scourings  of  hills  near  the  homestead,  and  especially  of 
streets  aiid  roads,  to  pour  themselves  directly  into  brooks 
and  rivers,  and  to  run  off  and  be  lost  in  the  sea.  A  little 
care  may  prevent  this.  Tliey  may  be  made  to  pour  upon 
low  grounds,  and  a  low  mound  of  earth  may  detain  them 
and  allow  them  to  deposit  their  mud. 

402.  A  compost  for  trees  to  be  planted  on  mcagi-e, 
sandy  soil,  should  be  prepared  of  clay  well  mixed  with 
muck  or  marsh  mud,  aud  with  lime  or  marl.  For  clayey 
soil  one  of  sandy  loam,  light  muck  and  lime,  with  a  por- 
tion of  barn  manure.  Bog  earth, or  peat,  with  lime,  makes 
a  good  compost  for  almost  any  land  except  boggy  land. 
To  each  of  these  a  most  important  addition  is  ashes,  or 
potash,  or  substances  containing  potash.  Tlie  leaves  of 
all  trees,  indeed  all  leaves,  and  weeds,  and  the  small 
branches  of  all  shrubs,  are  rich  in  potash,  and  are  a 
natural  manure  for  trees. 

These,  prepared  long  before  hand,  and  thoroughly 
mixed  with  the  soil,  will  have  a  surprising  effect  upon  the 
growth  of  trees. 

A  good  compost  for  any  common  crop  is  made  of  one 
cord  of  barnyard  manure,  with  two  or  three  of  muck, 
swamp  mud,  or  loam,  and  ashes  or  potash. 

A  compost  which  has  been  successfully  tried  by  a 
careful  observer  is  made  of  farmyard  manure,  twenty- 
five  bushels,  muck  or  mud,  twenty-five  bushels,  and  six 


COMPOSTS.  127 

bushels  of  leached  ashes,  or,  in  place  of  the  ashes,  one 
bushel  of  lime  slaked  with  salt  water. 

A  practical  farmer  of  great  experience  and  judgment, 
says  that  a  good  compost  for  hoed  crops  is  formed  of 
thirty  bushels  of  swamp  muck  thoroughly  mixed  with 
one  of  guano. 

Another  excellent  compost,  recommended  by  the  same 
person,  may  be  made  of  the  same  quantity  of  muck  with 
two  bushels  of  good  bones. 

Another  ;  dig  peat  or  swamp  mud,  in  the  fall.  In  the 
spring,  mix  eight  bushels  of  ashes  with  every  cord ;  or, 
with  every  cord,  twenty  pounds  of  soda  ash,  or  thirty  of 
potash,  dissolved  and  poured  carefully  upon  the  pile. 

403.  Care  in  the  management  of  the  Manure  Cellar  and  the 
Compost  Heap  essential  to  the  health  of  the  fanner's  family. 

We  have  seen  that  ammonia,  carbonic  acid  gas 
and  other  gases  should  not  be  lost,  as  they  are  valuable 
as  elements  of  the  food  of  plants.  But  there  are  other 
and  still  higher  reasons  why  such  gases  should  be  care- 
fully prevented  from  coming  out  into  the  air. 

These  gases,  while  tliey  give  life  to  plants,  are  death  to 
men.  Sulphuretted  hydrogen  is  not  only  very  disagree- 
able to  the  smell,  but  it  is  thought,  l^y  some  persons  who 
have  carefully  investigated,  so  poisonous  that,  if  it  float  in 
the  air  breathed  by  human  beings,  even  in  the  proportion 
of  one  part  to  100,000,  it  sometimes  causes  death.  In 
one  case,  "a  strong,  healthy  man  came  home  from  his 
work  and  went  to  bed.  An  hour  had  hardly  elapsed  when 
he  was  found  dead."  In  another  instance,  a  healthy  child 
was  taken  ill  in  the  morning  and  Avas  a  corpse  at  night. 
In  both  cases,  the  air  breathed  Avas  analyzed  and  found  to 
contain  sulphuretted  hydrogen.  If  breathed,  even  in 
very  small  quantities,  it  produces  stupor,  or  causes  a  low 

12 


128  OF   FERTILIZERS. 

fever,  wliicli,  if  tlie  sufferer  be  not  relieved  by  removal  to 
perfectly  pure  air,  may  end  fatally.*  Carbonic  acid  when 
breathed  hi  the  proportion  of  15  to  20  parts  in  1,000  of 
air,  causes  immediate  distress  and  feelings  of  suffocation, 
accompanied  often  with  giddiness  and  headache.  This  is 
sometimes  followed  by  a  sliglit  delirium  and  then  by  an 
irresistible  desire  to  sleep.*  If  breathed  in  still  larger 
quantities  it  not  unfrequently  causes  death.  The  fumes 
of  smoking  charcoal,  in  a  close  room,  have  often  been 
fatal  to  people  sleeping  in  the  room. 

401.  The  effects,  if  breathed  hi  smaller  p?'oportions,  are 
dulness,  heaviness,  difficulty  of  thought,  and  apparent 
stupidity.  The  extreme  sleepiness  and  dulness  sometimes 
observed  in  children  who  have  remained  several  hours  in 
an  ill-ventilated  school-room,  are,  doubtless,  often  caused 
by  the  carbonic  acid  in  the  air  of  the  room. 

This  comes  from  the  breath  of  the  occupants  of  the  room, 
and  sometimes  from  the  fire-place  or  stove.  Ammonia, 
breathed  when  very  strong,  immediately  takes  away  the 
breath.  When  weaker,  it  irritates  the  lungs,  and,  even 
when  very  weak,  if  breathed  for  a  considerable  time,  it 
produces  symptoms  of  typhoid  fever. 

405.  These  poisonous  gases  are  generated  in  drains 
and  sink-holes,  in  heaps  of  dirt  of  any  kind,  in  damp 
cellars  and  close  rooms,  in  dirty  ditches,  in  muddy 
puddles,  swamps  and  undrahied  marshes,  and  wherever 
water  is  allowed  to  remain  stagnant. 

These  poisons  show  their  presence  by  rendering  the  air 
disagreeable  to  the  sense  of  smell.  Whatever  is  offensive 
to  this  sense  is  more  or  less  dangerous ;  and,  if  foul  air, 
that  is,  bad  smelling,  foetid  air,  be  breathed,  it  is  always 

*  Dr.  Taylor,  as  quoted  bv  Dr.  John  Bell.  Third  National  Sanitary  Conven- 
tion, p.  425. 


OFFENSIVE  GASES   ARE  POISONOUS.  129 

more  or  less  poisonous.  The  poison  may  act  slowly,  but 
not  the  less  surely,  and  it  renders  a  person  who  breathes 
it  liable  to  fever,  cholera,  consumption  and  other  fearful 
diseases*  It  is  universally  found  that  people  living  in 
damp  and  dirty  places,  in  houses  ill-ventilated,  over  wet 
cellars  or  on  ground  badly  drained,  are  the  first  to  be 
attacked  by  cholera,  dysentery,  and  various  kinds  of  fever. 

406.  What  has  this  to  do  with  agriculture?  Much. 
It  shows  that  the  farmer  who  looks  everywhere  for  manure, 
and  collects  it  carefully  from  all  dirty  places,  of  all  kinds, 
secures  his  own  health,  and  improves  the  health  and  com- 
fort of  his  family  and  of  his  neighbors,  at  the  same  time 
that  he  improves  his  fields  and  increases  his  crops.  The 
sweepings  of  rooms,  the  scrapings  of  cellars,  earth  that 
has  been  long  lying  under  barns  or  other  buildings  having 
no  cellars,  the  contents  of  drains,  cess-pools,  ditches, 
bogs,  dirty  ponds,  morasses  and  swamps,  arc  all  excellent 
materials  for  the  compost  heap.  Collected  together  and 
covered  with  clay  or  loam,  they  become  not  only  harmless 
but  very  valuable. 

All  kinds  of  dirt,  if  allowed  to  remain  near  dwelling- 
houses,  are  liable  to  be  dissolved  or  rendered  noisome  by 
the  rain,  and  to  sink  into  the  earth  and  reach  and  con- 
taminate the  water  in  the  well.  Water  thus  contaminated 
is  not  only  nauseous  to  the  smell  and  to  the  taste,  but 
very  unwholesome.  On  this  account  the  compost  heap 
should  always  be  made  at  a  distance  from  the  well ;  and 
beneath  every  such  heap  there  should  be  an  abundance 
of  clay  or  loam,  sufficient  to  absorb  all  the  valuable 
substance  that  drains  from  the  heap,  and  to  prevent  the 
moisture  from  sinking  into  the  earth. 


130  OF   TILLAGE. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 

OF   TILLAGE. 

407.  In  what  does  the  preparation  of  soils  consist  ?  In 
various  operations,  the  object  of  which  is  to  divide  and 
mellow  the  soil,  in  order  to  render  it  permeable  to  air,  to 
water,  and  to  the  roots  of  cultivated  plants,  and  so  to 
mingle  all  the  parts  of  the  soil  that  all  the  elements  of  the 
nourishment  of  plants  may  be  so  diffused  as  to  be  within 
the  reach  of  the  roots,  and  also  to  keep  it  clean  and  free 
from  weeds. 

When  the  land  is  wet,  the  first  and  most  indispensable 
of  operations  is  draining.  The  essential  operations  after- 
wards are  ploughing,  digging,  spading,  harrowing  and 
rolling. 

Ploughing  is  turning  over  the  soil,  so  as  to  bring  a 
lower  portion  to  the  surface  and  to  place  in  contact  with 
the  subsoil  the  portion  which  had  been  previously  exposed 
to  the  air. 

408.  The  objects  of  ploughing  are  to  mellow  and  pul- 
verize the  soil,  to  mix  it,  when  necessary,  with  a  portion 
of  the  subsoil,  to  mingle  the  different  portions  as  fully  as 
possible,  to  cover  manures,  to  destroy  weeds,  and  to  keep 
the  surface  fresh.  All  these  things  except  the  two  last, 
can  be  done  more  effectually  with  the  spade,  the  shovel 
and  the  fork,  than  with  the  plough.  Weeds  can  often  be 
better  destroyed  and  the  surface  be  more  easily  kept  fresh 
by  the  horse-hoe  or  the  cultivator. 

Why  then  is  the  plough  preferred  ?  Because  it  is  so 
great  a  labor-saver.     The  ground  may  be  more  easily  and 


BENEFITS   OF   DEEP    PLOUGHING.  131 

better  turned  over,  in  long  slices,  and  placed  npside  down, 
by  the  plough,  than  by  any  other  instrument  which  has 
been  contrived. 

409.  What  is  the  object  in  bringing  fresh  portions  of 
earth  to  the  surface  ?  Soils  have  a  remarkable  property 
of  attracting  moisture  from  the  air  and  condensing  it  in 
their  pores.  With  the  moisture,  they  at  the  same  time 
absorb  the  ammonia,  nitric  acid  and  carbonic  acid  floating 
in  the  air  or  dissolved  in  the  water.  By  long  contact  of 
the  soil  with  the  air  the  surface  hardens  and  acts  less 
efficiently,  and  the  pores  become  filled.  Hence  the  advan- 
tage of  bringing  a  new  portion  into  action. 

410.  Deep  Ploughing  extends  all  the  benefits  of  tillage 
to  a  greater  depth.  It  opens  a  larger  portion  of  the  soil 
to  the  beneficial  action  of  the  air  and  moisture,  and  affords 
a  larger  space  for  the  food  laid  up  for  the  use  of  plants.  It 
distributes  the  manure  more  evenly  through  the  soil.  It 
has  the  effects,  already  mentioned,  (Art.  47,)  of  draining. 
It  gives  you  more  land  to  the  acre, — a  new  farm  under 
the  old  one.  Soil  deeply  ploughed  is  less  speedily 
exhausted.  The  roots  penetrate  deeper  and  take  firmer 
hold.     Grain  sown  on  deep  soil  is  less  liable  to  lodge. 

If  the  food  for  plants  is  mixed  evenly  throughout  the 
soil  to  the  depth  of  ten  or  twelve  inches,  the  roots  of  most 
cultivated  plants  will  penetrate  to  that  depth  in  search  of 
it ;  and  will  thus  be  less  liable  to  injury  from  drought. 

411.  Deep  ploughing  produces  a  saving  of  labor  as  well 
as  of  land.  If  a  farmer  who  has  commonly  ploughed  his 
field  six  inches  deep,  will  plough,  the  present  year,  to  the 
depth  of  seven  inches,  and  will  put  on  seven  loads  of 
manure  where  he  had  previously  put  on  six,  he  will, 
with  the  same  labor,  get  seven  bushels  of  roots  or  of 
corn,  where  he  has  commonly  got  only  six.     If  then,  the 

12* 


132  OF   TILLAGE. 

next  year,  lie  will  plough  eight  inches  deep,  instead  of 
seven,  and  apply  eight  loads  of  manure,  instead  of  seven, 
he  will  find  his  crops  increased  in  that  proportion,  upon 
the  same  land  and  with  no  more  labor.  The  next  year,  or 
at  the  beginning  of  the  next  rotation,  he  may,  on  the  same 
principle,  plough  to  the  depth  of  nine  or  ten  inches. 

It  is  only  in  this  gradual  way  that  the  change  can  be 
safely  made.  And  at  each  deepening,  care  must  be  taken 
to  have  a  sufficient  portion  of  manure  put  into  that  part  of 
the  earth  which  is  last  brought  to  the  surface,  in  order 
that  the  plants  while  young  may  be  made  to  throw  out  a 
great  number  of  rootlets.  This  number  will  depend 
upon  the  amount  of  manure  near  the  surface,  in  the 
immediate  neighborhood  of  the  little  plant.  These  root- 
lets, once  formed,  will  penetrate  into  the  deeper  earth 
and  feed  upon  the  food  there  prepared  for  them. 

When  the  soil  is  too  rich  in  carbonaceous  matter,  burn- 
ing over  the  surface,  and  thus  reducing  bushes  and  weeds 
to  ashes,  is  a  very  useful  operation.  We  commonly  get 
potash,  which  is  so  valuable  to  all  vegetables,  from  the 
ashes  of  wood  ;  but  the  ashes  of  shrubs  and  of  herbaceous 
plants  contain  more  potash  than  the  ashes  of  the  same 
weight  of  timber. 

Land  not  sufficiently  eich  in  vegetable  remains  should 

NEVER  BE  BURNT  OVER. 

412.  Use  of  thorough  tillage.  The  more  completely 
the  particles  of  a  soil  are  reduced  to  powder,  the  more 
readily  they  act  on  each  other ;  and  the  more  evenly  the 
manure  is  diffused  through  the  soil,  the  more  readily  and 
immediately  do  the  roots  of  plants  come  in  contact  with 
them  and  feed  on  them.  The  only  difference  to  be  found 
between  some  very  rich  soils  in  Ohio  and  some  very  poor, 
was  the  fact  that,  in  the  rich  soils,  the  same  mineral  con- 


VALUE   OF   TILLAGE. — SUBSOILING.  133 

stitiients  were  in  the  state  of  the  finest  powder.  All 
mineral  substances  combine  with  oxygen  and  with  each 
other  the  more  readily  in  proportion  as  they  are  reduced 
to  more  minute  particles. 

413.  Most  people  are  wholly  unaware  of  the  value  of 
tillage.  As  a  general  rule,  we  may  say,  the  more  com- 
pletely and  frequently  the  soil  is  stirred  the  better.  Far- 
mers are  apt  to  think  that  the  great  advantage  of  hoeing 
and  cultivating  with  the  plough,  the  harrow  and  the  cul- 
tivator, between  rows  of  corn  or  other  crop,  is  the  destruc- 
tion of  weeds.  This  doubtless  is  indispensable.  But  in 
reality,  the  improvement  of  the  soil  by  continually  expos- 
ing fresh  portions  to  the  air,  by  thoroughly  mixing  it,  and 
thus  preparing  for  future  crops,  is  of  not  less  value  than 
the  weeding.  Though,  doubtless,  there  may  be  danger 
of  too  frequently  turning  dry  soils  in  a  season  of  drought. 

414.  Subsoiling  is  cultivating  with  a  plough  which  does 
not  turn  a  furrow,  but  penetrates  to  some  distance  below 
the  furrow  already  turned  and  loosens  the  soil  down 
there.  It  sometimes  adds  one  third  to  the  crop  raised. 
By  stirring  and  loosening  the  earth  to  a  considerable 
depth,  it  makes  it  retentive  of  moisture  to  that  depth, 
and,  with  moisture,  of  all  that  accompanies  moisture  into 
the  earth,  and  makes  it  easy  for  the  roots  to  penetrate  and 
reach  them. 

If  the  roots  of  a  plant  do  not  penetrate  so  deeply,  their 
food,  deep  in  the  earth,  reaches  them  by  capillary  attrac- 
tion. This  draws  the  moisture,  and  all  that  the  moisture 
contains,  up  towards  the  surface.  A  part  of  it  is  taken 
up  by  the  plants,  and  the  remainder,  as  the  moisture 
evaporates,  is  left  near  the  surface  to  be  still  farther  acted 
upon  by  the  air. 


1^4:  PREPARATION   OF  LANDS. 


CHAPTER  XIY. 

PREPARATION    OF   LANDS. 

415.  A  texture  or  mechanical  condition  of  tlie  soil 
favorable  to  plant  growth  is  especially  necessary.  The 
mechanical  condition  of  the  soil  is  its  condition  in  respect 
to  looseness  or  compactness,  hardness  or  mellowness, 
coarseness  or  fineness,  without  reference  to  the  chemical 
substances  contained  in  it. 

416.  Few  soils  are  naturally  in  the  mechanical  condition 
best  suited  for  cultivation,  though  different  soils  vary  very 
much  in  this  respect.  Hence  it  is  as  necessary  to  use  the 
right  means  to  put  the  soil  into  the  proper  mechanical 
condition,  as  to  apply  manure  to  improve  the  land  in  the 
other  modes  above  referred  to. 

417.  The  soil  must  be  mellow,  so  that  the  roots  of 
plants  can  penetrate  freely  and  the  air  can  circulate 
through  it,  but  still  firm  enough  to  hold  the  roots  in  their 
position.  It  must  admit  the  heat  of  the  sun,  and  yet 
hold  moisture  enough  for  the  wants  of  the  plant. 

418.  Most  soils  require  to  be  w^ell  pulverized  before 
they  allow  the  roots  of  plants  to  penetrate  and  grow 
freely,  or  permit  the  circulation  of  the  atmospheric  air, 
and  if  they  are  not  so  pulverized  and  mellow,  they  do 
not  readily  take  up  and  carry  off  the  water  which  falls  in 
rain  or  comes  from  other  sources.  This  water  often 
washes  away  the  surface  of  the  soil,  or  remains  stagnant, 
causing  much  injury  to  vegetation. 

419.  The  manner  in  which  land  must  be  prepared  for 
cultivation,  differs  very  much  in  different  cases,  varying 


CLEiVRING    UP.  135 

according  to  the  condition  in  which  it  is  found  when  its 
improvement  is  first  begun.  The  processes  most  fre- 
quently found  necessary  are  clearing,  draining,  ploughing, 
harrowing  and  rolling. 

420.  Clearing  is  generally  required  in  a  new  country, 
or  when  new  land  or  woodland  is  to  be  cultivated.  In 
these  cases  the  soil  rarely  allows  even  the  most  ordinary 
operations  of  farming.  It  is  often  covered  with  trees  or 
forests,  or  with  rocks  which  would  interfere  very  much 
with  successful  tillage. 

421.  The  term  clearing,  in  a  new  country,  is  applied 
to  the  cutting  down  and  burning  or  removing  of  all  the 
timber  and  brushwood  from  the  lot.  This  is  simple, 
though  hard  work.  The  trees  are  felled,  if  possible,  in 
June,  when  in  full  leaf,  and  the  ground  may  be  burned 
over  in  season  to  sow  in  a  crop  of  winter  rye  upon  the 
surface.  This  is  the  case  in  remote  sections  where  the 
timber  has  so  little  value  as  not  to  pay  for  removal,  and 
where  it  is  usually  burned  on  the  ground.  But  in  other 
locations,  the  wood  may  be  cut  and  removed  in  winter, 
and  the  work  of  clearing  continued  the  following  summer. 
Sometimes  on  account  of  its  situation,  the  cleared  land 
must  be  devoted  to  pasturage.  In  tliese  cases  grass  seed 
is  sown  along  with  the  rye,  and  cattle  turned  upon  it  the 
following  season.  But  generally  the  sides  of  steep  hills, 
or  land  so  rough  that  it  cannot  be  cleared  and  prepared 
for  cultivation  except  at  great  expense,  should  be  kept  for 
woodland. 

422.  The  next  step  in  preparing  wild  lands  for  farming, 
is  to  remove  the  stumps  and  stones.  Several  simple 
machines  have  been  constructed  to  do  this,  by  which  a 
powerful  leverage  or  purcliase  is  gained,  so  as  to  raise  a 
stump  or  stone  of  several  tons  weight  from  its  bed.     A 


136 


PREPARATION    OF   LANDS. 


convenient  and  cheap  form  of  stump  puller  is  Bates' 
patent,  shown  in  figure  2,  and  one  of  the  best  forms  of  a 
stone  lifter  in  figure  3. 


Fig.  3. 


423.  It  often  happens  that  the  surface  is  completely 
matted  with  roots  of  bushes,  and  so  hard  as  to  be  impen- 


TREATMENT  OP   COLD   SOILS.  137 

etrable  to  the  plough  in  pasture 
or  waste  lands  which  it  is  designed 
to  clear  up.  In  such  cases  a  stout 
grapple  represented  in  figure  4  is 
found  extremely  useful  in  remov- 
ing the  surface  which  may  be  Fig.  4. 
burned  previous  to  ploughing. 

424.  Much  land  is  so  situated  as  to  require  thorough 
draining  before  it  can  be  cultivated  at  all  to  advantage. 
The  object  of  draining  is  to  remove  an  excess  of  moisture 
from  the  soil. 

425.  Water  standing  stagnant  in  the  soil  diminishes 
the  good  effects  of  manures  very  much  by  preventing 
decomposition,  makes  it  impossible  to  work  lands  early  in 
the  spring,  prevents  seeds  from  germinating,  or  makes 
them  germinate  more  slowly,  and  delays  the  ripening  of 
crops,  lessening  their  quantity  and  making  their  quality 
inferior. 

426.  An  excess  of  water  in  the  soil  also  excludes  the 
air.  This  is  injurious,  because  the  air  does  much  to  pro- 
mote the  chemical  changes  in  the  mineral  parts  of  the 
earth  which  are  necessary  to  the  growth  of  plants,  and 
converts  the  organic  materials  in  the  soil  into  vegetable 
acids  which  give  it  the  name  of  "  sour"  or  "cold"  soil. 

427.  Drainage  is  effected  either  by  opening  channels 
on  the  surface,  or  by  means  of  covered  drains.  Open 
drains  are  sometimes  very  useful,  but  are  liable  to  serious 
objections.  The  water  which  enters  them,  carries  with  it 
many  of  the  substances  which  make  the  soil  fertile,  which 
are  thus  lost.  Besides,  such  drains  are  not  nearly  as 
useful  as  covered  ones,  while  they  interfere  with  a  proper 
cultivation ;  they  leave  a  great  deal  of  water  in  the  soil, 
weeds  are  very  apt  to  grow  along  their  sides,  and  they 


138: 


PREPARATION   OF   LANDS. 


take  up  a  great  deal  of  ground  which  might  otherwise  be 
made  productive. 

428.  Underdrains  avoid  these  objections,  and  are  more 
economical.  They  may  be  constructed  either  of  stones 
or  of  tiles  made  for  the  purpose.  The  tiles  are  altogether 
better,  both  because  they  can  be  laid  down  at  less  ex- 
pense, and  because  they  last  longer.  They  are  also  less 
liable  to  get  stopped  up. 

429.  To  lay  a  stone  drain  properly,  a  large  trench  must 
be  dug.  This  requires  great  labor,  and  such  a  drain 
should  not  be  made  unless  there  are  a  great  many  small 
stones  on  the  surface  of  the  land  which  the  farmer  wishes 
to  get  rid  of,  and  even  then  the  tile  drain  costs  less  and  is 
more  economical  in  most  cases.  The  different  modes 
of  laying  a  stone  drain  are  shown  in  figures  5,  6,  and  7. 


Fig.  5. 


Fiff.  6. 


Fig.  7. 


430.  In  laying  down  the  tile  drain,  the  trench  may  be 
very  narrow,  a  width  of  a  foot  at  the  top  and  four  inches 
at  the  bottom  being  sufficient,  as  in  figure  8.  It  is  dug  by 
a  spade  and  hoes  made  for  the  purpose,  and  illustrated  in 
figures  9  and  10. 


THE   TILE    DRAIN. 


13^ 


Fig.  8. 


s 


A 


Fig.  9. 


Fig.  10. 


431.  The  tile  drain  is  not  only  more  economical,  but  it 
carries  off  the  water  better  and  lasts  longer.  If  the  stones 
were  picked  np  and  placed  at  the  edge  of  the  trench 
without  any  expense,  the  drain  made  of  them  would  be 
less  economical  in  the  end  than  one  made  of  tiles  which 
cost  110  or  $12  per  thousand. 

432.  The  pipe  tile,  (Fig.  11^,)  a  simple  round 
tube,  is  found  to  be  the  best  in  shape.  For 
the  interior  drains  which  enter  into  the  larger 
main  drains,  a  tube  of  two  inches  in  diameter 
is  about  the  right  size. 

433.  The  fall  should  not  be  less  than  one  inch  to  the 
rod.  A  drain  properly  laid  in  this  way  may  be  expected  to 
last  and  answer  a  good  purpose  for  half  a  century. 

434.  The  sole  tiles  made  in  this  country,  shown  in  figure 
11^,  are  not  so  good  because  they  must  necessarily  be  laid 
sole  down,  and  if  they  happen  to  be  warped  in  burning, 
as  they  often  are,  it  is  difficult  to  get  a  perfectly  straight 
and  reliable  water  course. 

435.  The  brush  drain  is  sometimes  made  ))y  digging  a 


Fig.  11. 


140 


PREPARATION   OF   LANDS. 


Fig.  13. 


trench  and  filling  up  to  a  certain  depth  with  small  brush. 
When  this  is  attempted,  the  sticks  should  all  be  laid  with 

i^sH^     the  larger  ends  down,  as 
shown  in  figure  12.     The 
Fig.  12.  brush  is  then  thoroughly 

^^Ifflgfl3|i^^    pressed  down  and  covered  over  with  sods 
^  ^  with  the  turf  or  grass  side  down.     This 

^m  lill^B  is  better  than  none;  but  it  is  never  to 

^B  jijlIB  be  recommended  where  good  tiles  can 

^^  ;!:j^p  be  got.     The  same  may  be  said  of  log 

^B  drains  which  are  made  by  laying  down 
two  logs  in  the  trench  with  a  third  upon 
them,  as  in  figure  13.  The  earth  must 
be  pressed  down  solid  over  a  stone,  brush 
or  log  drain. 

436.  The  distance  apart  at  which  the 
drains  should  be  laid  will  depend  on  the  character  of  the 
soil.  In  a  soil  which  is  stiff  and  holds  water  long,  it  might 
not  be  well  to  have  them  more  than  twenty-five  feet  apart, 
while  a  more  porous  soil  might  be  sufficiently  drained 
if  they  were  thirty  or  forty  feet  apart,  or  even  more. 

437.  The  depth  of  the  trench  must  depend  somewhat 
on  the  distance  between  the  drains.  Trenches  three  feet 
deep  and  twenty  feet  apart,  have  been  found  to  do  as  well 
as  those  five  feet  deep  and  eighty  feet  apart.  In  general 
the  depth  should  be  from  three  to  four  feet. 

438.  Thorough  draining  makes  the  soil  more  open  and 
causes  a  more  free  circulation  of  air  through  it,  thus 
preventing  it  from  drying  up  so  soon.  The  air  is  at  all 
times  charged  with  moisture,  and  as  it  comes  in  contact 
with  the  particles  of  soil,  this  moisture  is  condensed  and 
deposited  there,  just  as  we  see  it  deposited  on  the  cold 
sides  of  a  pitcher  of  ice  water  in  a  hot  day.     Drainage 


EFFECTS   OP   DRAINING. 


141 


also  deepens  the  arable  soil  and  makes  it  more  easy  for 
plants  to  extend  their  roots. 

439.  The  atmosphere  is  charged  with  fertilizing  ele- 
ments as  well  as  with  moisture,  and  as  it  circulates  freely 
in  the  soil,  these  elements  are  taken  up  and  retained  to 
serve  as  plant  food. 

440.  The  soil  having  become  more  porous  by  the 
removal  of  water  and  the  admission  of  air  among  its 
particles,  its  temperature  is  raised  in  consequence,  that  is 
the  soil  is  made  warmer  and  warmed  to  a  greater  depth. 

441.  A  higher  temperature  in  the  soil  hastens  forward 
the  growth  of  plants,  and  thus  often  makes  the  ripening 
several  days  earlier. 

442.  The  texture  or  me- 
chanical condition  of  most 
stiff  soils  is  improved  by 
simply  draining,  and  they 
are  thus  made  capable  of 
being  worked  earlier  in 
spring  and  after  long  rains, 
while  the  growth  of  plants 
is  stronger  and  more  vigor- "< 
ous.  The  difference  may  be  ^^ 
seen  in  figures  14  and  15,  the 
former  showing  the  effect 
of  draining  and  warming  the  surface  soil,  a.,  causing  the 
roots  to  penetrate  even  into  the  moisture  below  the  drained 
level  at  &,  the  latter,  the  same  species  of  plant  on  an 
undrained  and  unsuitable  soil. 

443.  After  the  land  is  properly  cleared,  it  must  next  be 
made  ready  for  planting.  In  the  first  place  the  soil  must 
be  mellowed  or  broken  up  fine  to  a  proper  depth. 

444.  The  spade,  the  plough,  the  harrow  and  the  roller, 


Fig.  14. 


Fig.  15. 


142  PREPARATION   OF  LANDS. 

are   the  implements   most  often   used    in   effecting  this 
object. 

445.  The  spade  or  spading  fork  is  the  simplest  form  of 
these  implements,  and  consists  of  a  blade  or  tines  of  iron 
or  steel  fixed  into  a  straight  handle.  It  is  worked  by 
hand.  Cultivation  by  its  use  is  the  slowest  and  most 
expensive  mode  of  tillage,  and  is  adapted  chiefly  to  the 
nrce  operations  of  the  garden. 

446.  The  com- 
mon plough, 
(Fig.  16,)  is  the 
implement  most 
commonly  used 
in  breaking  up 
the  land,  and  is 
the  most  economical  instrument  that  can  be  used  for  the 
purpose.  Without  the  plough  successful  farming  would 
be  impossible  in  a  country  where  labor  is  very  high  and 
difficult  to  obtain. 

447.  In  passing  through  the  soil  the  plough  separates 
and  cuts  off  a  slice  of  its  surface,  cutting  it  both  vertically 
and  horizontally,  and  turning  it  over  in  such  a  way  as  to 
leave  it  exposed  to  the  action  of  the  harrow,  which  usually 
follows  the  plough  to  break  down  and  pulverize  the  soil 
completely. 

448.  The  furrow  made  by  the  common  plough  should 
be  deep,  straight,  and  of  such  a  width  that  the  slice  cut 
off  may  be  turned  entirely  over,  or  left  on  its  edge,  as  the 
ploughman  may  wish. 

449.  The  depth  is  of  the  greatest  importance,  though 
experience  has  shown  that  it  is  best  to  deepen  the  arable 
soil  gradually,  by  ploughing  about  an  inch  or  half  an  inch 
deeper  each  time,  till  it  is  worked  deep  enough,  say  from 


DEEP  PLOUGHING. 


143 


seven  to  ten  or  twelve  inches,  according  to  the  crops  it  is 
designed  to  cnltivate. 

450.  If  much  of  a  poor  subsoil  should  be  brought  up 
to  the  surface  at  once,  the  farmer  would  have  to  wait  two, 
three,  or  even  four  years  before  he  would  obtain  the 
largest  results,  though  after  that  time  the  good  effects  of 
deep  tillage  would  be  seen. 

451.  Deep  ploughing  has  much  the  same  effect  as 
thorough  draining,  though  in  a  less  degree.  It  enables 
the  roots  of  plants  to  penetrate  deeply  in  search  of  nour- 
ishment, carries  off  more  or  less  of  the  surface  water, 
warms  the  soil,  and  without  doubt  makes  it  more  fertile 
by  allowing  the  air  to  circulate  through  it,  and  by  a 
mixture  of  the  soils  of  different  depths.  Besides,  deep 
ploughing  makes  it  much  easier  to  do  the  other  work 
which  is  necessary  in  preparing  the  soil  for  planting,  and 
increases  the  effect  of  all  manures  which  are  applied. 

452.  Deep  ploughing  is  especially  needed  in  the  culti- 
vation of  deep  or  tap-rooted  plants  like  carrots,  parsnips, 
and  ruta-bagas,  but  it  is  beneficial  to  all  crops  if  it  is 
properly  done. 

453.  The  subsoil 
plough,  (Figs.  17  and 
18,)  is  designed  to  fol- 
low in  the  furrow  of 
the  common  plough,  to 
loosen  and  break  up  the 
lower  layers  of  the  soil 
without  bringing  them 
to  the  surface.  With  this 
implement  it  is  easy  to 
loosen  the  subsoil  six  or 
eight  inches  below  the 
furrow  left  bv  the  ordi- 

"     13* 


Fig.  18. 


144 


PREPARATION   OF   LANDS. 


nary  plough,  making  the  whole  depth  to  which  the  land  is 
stirred,  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  inches. 

454.  The  benefits  of  subsoil  ploughing  are  very  similar 
to  those  of  deep  ploughing.  Recent  investigations  show 
that  nitrogen  and  other  fertilizing  substances  exist  deep 
below  the  surface.  Subsoil  ploughing  enables  the  roots  of 
plants  to  reach  them  by  loosening  the  soil  to  a  greater 
depth. 

455.  A  very  excellent 
implement  known  as 
the  Michigan,  or  double 
mould-board  plough, 
(Fig.  19,)  is  designed  to 
obviate  the  necessity  of 
the  subsoil  plough,  to 
some  extent.  The  smaller  mould-board  cuts  off  a  thin 
surface  and  turns  it  into  the  last  furrow,  where  it  is 
completely  covered  with  a  finely  pulverized  soil  by  the 
principal  mould-board. 


Fig.  19. 


■^■'^?-.^^~-' 


Fig.  20. 

456.    An  implement  designed  to  supersede  the  use  of 
the  plough  in  many  soils,  is  known  as  the  digger,  (Fig.  20.) 


USE   OF   THE   ROLLER. 


145 


Fig.  21. 


It  leaves  the  ground  mellow  like  the  fork,  and  in  good 
condition  for  the  cultivation  of  crops. 

457.  The  harrow,  (Fig.  21,)  is  an 
ancient  implementj^  and  is  most  com- 
monly used  after  the  plough,  to 
break  down  and  mellow  or  pulverize 
the  furrow  slice.  It  should  be  moved 
rapidly  over  the  soil.  It  has  been 
very  much  improved  within  a  few 
years. 

458.  The  cultivator,  (Fig.  22,)  may 
properly  be  regarded  as  a  modified 
form  of  the  harrow,  but  it  is  much 
better  than  the  harrow, 
because  with  its  plough 
shaped  teeth,  it  lightens 
up    and    mellows    the 
surface  soil,  instead  of 
pressing  it  down  hard, 
as  the  harrow  is  apt  to 
do  every  where  except 
on  new,  rough  land. 

459.  The  roller  is  often  used  to  pulverize  the  surface 
soil.  It  has  so  large  a  surface  to  rest  on  the  soil,  that  it 
crushes  and  breaks  up  clods  without  hardening  the  lower 
strata. 

460.  In  laying  down  lands  to  grass,  it  is  often  useful 
in  pressing  down  small  stones,  so  as  to  get  them  out  of 
the  way  of  the  scythe.  It  is  often  useful,  also,  on  newly 
sown  grain,  and  hastens  the  germination  of  seeds,  by 
preserving  the  moisture  around  them. 

461.  But  clayey  soils  shoidd  never  be  rolled  except 
when   they   are   perfectly  dry,  and  for   the  purpose  of 


Fig.  22. 


146  SOWING,  PLANTING,  ETC. 

breaking  the  lumps  left  bj  the  plough.  Rolling  stiff  soils 
when  Avet,  would  only  make  them  too  hard  and  compact, 
and  thus  do  them  more  harm  than  good. 


CHAPTER  XY. 

SOWING,  PLANTING,  ETC. 

462.  Moisture,  warmth,  and  exposure  to  the  air,  to 
some  extent,  are  needed  to  make  the  seeds  of  plants 
germinate  healthfully.  Light  is  not  necessary ;  on  the 
contrary,  it  is  believed  to  interfere  in  some  degree  with 
the  process  of  germination. 

463.  The  seed  is  buried  in  a  properly  prepared  soil, 
where  the  moisture  soon  softens  it  throughout,  and  certain 
chemical  changes  take  place,  by  which  the  mealy  parts 
are  prepared  to  nourish  the  swelling  germ. 

464.  A  radical  shoot  or  rootlet  first  bursts  its  covering, 
and  invariably  grows  down,  fixing  itself  in  the  soil, 
while  a  stalk  shoots  up  towards  the  air  and  light  in  which 
it  expands  its  leaves. 

465.  By  means  of  its  leaves,  which  serve  as  its  lungs, 
the  plant  draws  much  nourishment  from  the  air.  There 
are  a  great  many  small  openings  or  pores  in  the  leaves, 
which  are  most  numerous  on  the  under  side.  On  a 
single  square  inch  of  the  leaf  of  the  common  lilac,  there 
are  no  less  than  one  lumdred  and  twenty  thousand  of 
these  little  mouths,  and  on  an  inch  of  the  white  lily 
there   are   sixty   thousand.      They   are   found   in   great 


REQUISITES    OF   PLANT   GROWTH.  147 

numbers  on  the  leaves  of  all  plants.  A 
magnified  portion  of  the  leaf  of  the  grape 
is  shown  in  figure  23. 

466.  All  plants  come  from  seeds,  in  the 
first  place,  and  the  farmer  usually  sows 
or  plants  the  seeds  of  the  plants  he  wishes         -^.^  23 
to  have  ;  but  in  some  cases  tubers  or  bulbs 

are  placed  in  the  ground  and  new  plants  spring  from 
them.  A  tuber  is  a  thickened  portion  of  a  stalk  or  stem 
under  ground,  having  buds  or  eyes,  as  the  potato  and  the 
artichoke.  A  bulb  is  a  collection  of  fleshy  scales  formed 
under  ground  by  certain  kinds  of  plants,  as  the  tulip,  the 
onion,  and  the  lily. 

467.  Generally  the  seeds  are  sown  where  the  plant  is 
to  remain.  But  sometimes  they  are  started  in  a  carefully 
prepared  seed-bed,  from  which  they  are  transplanted  to 
the  field,  where  they  can  grow  up  to  better  advantage. 
This  is  done  to  bring  them  forward  earlier. 

468.  For  their  complete  development,  all  cultivated 
plants  must  have  a  deep,  mellow  soil,  and  care  enough 
to  prevent  them  from  being  injured  by  weeds  or  insects 
while  they  are  growing.  The  farmer  must  also  attend  tc 
the  choice  of  seeds,  taking  only  those  which  are  good  and 
still  have  the  power  of  germination,  and  must  consider 
how  much  seed  he  is  to  use,  how  he  should  prepare  it, 
the  time  and  manner  of  sowing,  and  the  depth  to  which 
the  seed  should  be  covered. 

469.  Choice  of  Seed.  An  imperfect  seed  may  still  be 
capable  of  germination  and  may  produce  plants,  which 
appear  to  grow  well  at  first,  but  such  plants  will  have  a 
sickly  and  imperfect  growth,  especially  at  the  time  of 
flowering,  and  they  will  produce  little  grain  and  that  of 
an  inferior  quality. 


148  SOWING,  PLANTING,  ETC. 

470.  With  the  same  soil,  climate  and  cultivation,  the 
most  perfect  seed  will  produce  the  finest  crop.  No  seed 
is  likely  to  produce  a  healthy  and  vigorous  plant,  unless 
it  came  from  a  strong  and  healthy  plant  itself,  was  fully 
ripened,  and  is  so  fresh  that  its  power  of  germination  is 
still  uninjured. 

471.  Good  seed  may  be  known  by  its  weight,  its  size, 
its  glossy  surface,  and  its  freedom  from  any  disagreeable 
odor.  Plumpness  and  Aveight  indicate  that  it  was  produced 
by  a  vigorous  plant ;  a  glossy  covering  shows  it  to  be 
healthy,  and  the  absence  of  odor  shows  that  it  has  been 
well  preserved. 

472.  To  learn  whether  the  germinating  power  still 
exists,  we  may  take  two  pieces  of  thick  cloth,  moisten 
them  with  water,  and  place  them  one  above  the  other  in 
the  bottom  of  a  saucer.  Then  take  some  of  the  seeds, 
spread  them  out  thin  upon  the  cloths,  not  allowmg  them 
to  cover  or  touch  each  other.  Cover  them  over  with  a 
third  cloth  like  the  others,  and  moistened  in  the  same 
manner.  Set  the  saucer  in  a  moderately  warm  place,  and 
moisten  the  cloths  from  time  to  time,  taking  care  not  to 
use  too  much  water.  Good  seed,  thus  treated,  will  swell 
gradually,  while  old  or  poor  seed  which  has  lost  its 
germinating  power,  will  become  mouldy  and  begin  to 
decay  in  a  very  few  days. 

473.  Such  a  trial  enables  the  farmer  to  judge  whether 
old  seed  is  mixed  with  new.  The  new  germinates  much 
more  quickly  than  the  old.  It  enables  him,  also,  to  judge 
of  the  quaritity  he  must  sow,  since  he  can  thus  tell  whether 
a  half,  three-quarters,  or  the  whole  will  be  likely  to 
germinate,  and  will  know  what  allowance  to  make  for 
bad  seed.  Clover  seeds,  if  new  and  fresh,  will  show  their 
germs  the  third  or  fourth  day. 


VITALITY   OF   SEED.  149 

474.  The  seeds  of  some  plants  contimie  good  much 
longer  than  those  of  others.  Those  of  many  wild  plants, 
for  mstance,  will  lie  for  many  years  without  losing  their 
goodness,  if  they  happen  to  be  in  such  a  place  that  they 
cannot  germinate,  and  afterwards  when  they  have  heat 
and  moisture,  and  other  conditions  necessary  for  germi- 
nation, they  will  produce  plants. 

475.  In  digging  wells,  or  in  other  deep  excavations, 
species  of  plants  not  before  known  in  the  place,  often  spring 
up  from  the  earth  thrown  out.  These  seeds  must  have 
been  lying  in  the  earth  many  years,  unable  to  grow 
because  the  heat  and  air  could  not  reach  them. 

476.  The  seeds  of  the  turnip,  if  kept  in  a  dry,  cool 
place,  continue  good  several  years,  and  will  germinate 
nearly  as  well  when  five  years  old  as  when  only  one  or 
two.  But  the  seeds  of  the  grasses  are  comparatively 
worthless  when  two  years  old,  since  few  of  them  will  then 
germinate.  Age,  heat,  moisture  and  fermentation,  are 
most  injurious  to  seeds. 

477.  Change  of  Seed.  Most  of  our  cultivated  plants 
originally  grew  wild,  and  in  their  natural  state  were  mu.ch 
less  valuable  than  they  now  are.  They  have  been  brought 
up  to  their  present  condition,  and  made  far  more  useful 
for  the  nourishment  of  men  and  animals,  by  careful 
cultivation  for  many  years.  In  all  these  plants  there  is  a 
natural  tendency  to  lose  what  they  have  gained,  and  fall 
back  to  their  original  condition.  This  can  be  prevented 
in  some  degree  by  constant  care  in  the  selection  of  seed 
and  high  cultivation  ;  bvit  experience  shows  that  in  some 
places  these  plants  will  gradually  lose  their  best  qualities, 
however  much  care  may  be  used  to  guard  against  it. 

478.  To  avoid  the  evils  of  sowing  inferior  seed,  we  may 
use  that  produced  in  other  localities,  where  special  care 


150 

is  taken  to  raise  it  in  the  liigliest  perfection  and  purity. 
In  general,  seeds  should  be  preferred  which  were  raised 
on  a  soil  poorer  than  that  where  they  are  to  be  sown. 

479.  When  both  soil  and  climate  are  favorable,  the 
necessity  of  frequent  change  may  be  avoided  by  good 
cultivation,  and  by  taking  the  seeds  from  the  best  and 
most  vigorous  plants,  when  they  are  fully  ripe,  and  drying 
and  preserving  them  properly.  Where  this  can  be  done 
without  danger  of  deterioration,  it  is  far  better,  since  the 
farmer  knows  better  what  he  is  to  sow.  Where  the  species 
of  plants  cultivated  are  very  similar  to  each  other,  and 
liable  to  hybridization  or  mixture,  care  must  be  taken  to 
keep  them  so  far  separated  as  to  preserve  their  purity. 

480.  The  maxim  that  ''  Like  produces  like,"  so  well 
known  among  farmers,  may  be  true  to  some  extent  in 
regard  to  most  of  the  cultivated  plants  of  the  farm,  but 
we  constantly  see  instances  where  the  fruit  of  the  plant 
whicli  grows  from  a  seed,  is  different  from  that  of  the 
plant  which  produced  the  seed  sown ;  very  common 
examples  of  this  change  are  seen  in  the  apple  and  other 
fruits,  and  the  potato  when  raised  from  the  seed.  In  our 
common  cultivated  grains,  the  difference,  if  there  is  any, 
is  slight. 

481.  In  a  large  field  of  wheat,  a  few  specimens  might 
be  found  among  the  millions  of  plants,  which  would  differ 
from  the  seed  planted.  By  carefully  selecting  these  and 
planting  them  by  themselves,  new  varieties  may  be 
obtained  and  preserved  distinct. 

482.  So  by  taking  care  to  select  our  seed  corn  from  the 
ears  which  ripen  earliest,  we  can  get  early  varieties.  If 
we  choose  seeds  from  the  largest  ears,  and  plant  them  by 
themselves,  we  shall  obtain  large  varieties ;  and  many 
persons  think  that  if  we  take  our  seeds  from  those  plants 


ORIGIN    OF   VARIETIES.  151 

which  have  several  ears  on  a  stalk,  we  may  thus  make 
very  prolific  varieties. 

483.  In  these  and  similar  cases,  the  change  or  modifi- 
cation from  the  original  to  the  new  variety  is  not  generally 
sudden,  and  soon  accomplished,  but  is  most  commonly 
slow  and  gradual.  The  seed  must  be  carefully  selected 
year  after  year,  till  the  desired  change  is  fixed  and  firmly 
established.  New  and  somewhat  permanent  varieties  may 
be  thus  obtained. 

484.  But  the  case  is  different  when  we  cultivate  pota- 
toes and  other  tubers,  since  we  do  not  usually  plant  the 
seed  in  such  cases,  the  tubers  being  only  an  enlargement 
of  the  stem  beneath  the  soil,  and  when  plants  grow  from 
their  buds  or  eyes, — as  they  do  in  the  ordinary  manner 
of  raising  potatoes,  the  same  variety  is  extended  or 
increased  with  no  change  of  character. 

485.  New  and  distinct  varieties  of  the  potato  may  be 
produced  to  any  extent  by  sowing  the  seeds  of  the  plant. 
Thus  the  chenango,  the  pinkeye,  and  other  varieties,  were 
first  obtained  from  seed  taken  from  the  ripe  bolls  of  other 
varieties.  After  a  new  variety  has  been  once  made  hi 
that  way,  it  may  be  continued  and  kept  up  by  planting 
the  tubers  in  the  usual  way. 

486.  If  a  vine  is  produced  from  a  layer  of  another 
vine,  the  new  vine  is  only  a  portion  of  the  old  one,  and 
can  never  become  a  new  and  distinct  variety ;  and  so  in 
budding  or  grafting,  the  new  growth  is  only  a  portion  of 
the  same  old  tree  from  which  the  scion  was  taken,  and 
has  precisely  the  same  character  as  the  tree  from  which 
■the  bud  or  graft  came,  except  so  far  as  it  may  have  been 
-changed  by  the  difference  of  soil  or  locality.  But  if  the 
seeds  of  the  apple  or  of  the  grape  are  sown,  new  varieties 
are  obtained  at  once. 

14 


152  SOWING,   PLANTING,   ETC. 

487.  Quantity  of  Seed.  The  plants  should  cover  the 
whole  ground,  each  having  just  room  enough  to  allow 
its  full  and  complete  development  and  no  more,  To 
learn  how  much  seed  will  be  necessary  for  this  w^e 
must  consider  the  character  of  the  soil,  its  preparation, 
its  fertility  and  the  time  of  sowing.  The  quality  of 
the  seed,  the  extent  to  which  it  is  apt  to  tiller  or  send 
up  side  shoots,  and  tlie  manner  of  sowing  must  be 
taken  into  account ;  also  the  habits  of  growth  of  the 
plant — whether  it  is  large  and  rank  or  otherwise,  and 
the  mode  of  tillage  to  be  adopted — all  these  must  be 
regarded. 

488.  The  richer  the  soil  and  the  more  manure  there  is 
used,  the  ranker  the  plant  will  grow.  The  ranker  the 
growth  the  more  space  will  it  require  for  its  full  develop- 
ment. On  the  other  hand,  in  a  poorer  soil,  the  plant  will 
grow  less  rankly,  so  that  more  seed  will  be  required  to 
cover  the  ground  with  plants  on  poor  and  scantily  manured 
land  than  on  rich  land  well  manured. 

489.  The  better  the  seed  the  less  will  be  required.  K 
the  climate  and  soil  are  very  favorable  to  the  plant,  a 
smaller  quantity  of  seed  w^ll  be  needed,  since  a  larger 
number  of  plants  will  grow  from  the  same  quantity  of 
seed.  So  the  earlier  the  sowing  is  finished,  the  less  seed 
may  be  used  provided  the  season  is  favorable. 

490.  If  the  soil  is  perfectly  clean  and  free  from  weeds 
less  seed  is  necessary.  Much  also  depends  on  the  distri- 
bution of  it,  and  the  more  uniformly  it  is  spread  the  less 
is  required.  For  tliis  reason  hand  or  broad-cast  sowing 
requires  more  seed  than  machine  or  drill  sowing.  In 
general,  it  may  be  said  that  winter  wheat  and  rye,  and 
other  winter  grains,  require  less  seed  than  the  spring 
varieties. 


PREPARATION   OF   SEEDS.  153 

491.  Other  things  being  equal,  thin  sown  crops  ripen 
later  than  thick  sown  ones.  The  greater  the  space  allowed 
each  plant  the  more  vigorous  will  be  its  development,  and 
consequently,  the  slower  its  growth.  In  thick  sown  crops 
the  growth  is  more  quickly  finished,  and  though  the  stalk 
may  be  rank  the  ear  will  be  smaller,  and  the  number  of 
grains  to  a  stalk  less  than  in  thin  sown  crops.  By  thick 
sowing  we  gain  in  time,  but  lose,  to  some  extent,  in 
quality. 

492.  Steeping  Seeds.  Some  farmers  are  in  the  habit  of 
soaking  the  seed  in  warm  water,  or  in  some  solution  like 
carbonate  of  ammonia,  lime  water,  chloride  of  sodium  or 
brine,  partly  to  hasten  its  germination  and  partly  to  supply 
the  place  of  manure.  When  the  sowing  has  been  delayed 
till  after  the  proper  time,  this  practice  may  be  useful, 
but  it  is  better  to  sow  or  plant  at  the  right  season,  and  so 
avoid  the  necessity  of  any  thing  of  the  sort  to  make  the 
seed  germinate  more  quickly,  and  as  a  substitute  for  manur- 
ing the  land  properly,  this  practice  is  of  very  little  benefit. 

493.  The  moisture  of  the  soil  is  best  adapted  to  nourish 
the  germ,  and  the  growth  of  the  plant  through  the  season 
will,  generally,  be  more  healthy  without  the  use  of  any 
artificial  preparation. 

494.  Time  of  Planting.  The  time  of  planting  varies 
according  to  the  season  and  the  nature  of  the  plant. 
Some  grains,  for  instance,  will  endure  a  great  degree  of 
cold  during  the  early  period  of  their  growth.  It  is  gen- 
erally considered  better  to  sow  these  in  autumn,  and 
spring  sowing  would  not  do  well.  Others  cannot  bear 
much  cold  and. should  not  be  sown  till  spring.  The  con- 
dition of  the  soil,  also,  makes  a  great  difference.  A  dry, 
warm  soil  is  ready  for  planting  much  earlier  in  spring 
-than  a  cold,  clayey  one. 


154  SOWING,    PLANTING,   ETC. 

495.  The  time  of  sowing  should  be  suited  to  the  nature 
of  the  particular  plant  we  wish  to  cultivate.  Indian 
corn,  barley  and  buckwheat,  for  example,  should  be 
planted  when  tlie  ground  is  dry  and  warmed  by  the  heat 
of  the  sun,  while  certain  kinds  of  wheat  and  oats  do 
better  when  sown  in  a  colder  soil. 

496.  Winter  grains  should  be  sown  earlier  on  heavy 
soils  than  on  sandy  ones,  and  earlier  in  a  cool,  moist 
climate  than  in  a  dry,  warm  one.  There  is  no  general 
rule  as  to  the  time  of  sowing  which  can  be  applied  to  all 
cases,  and  the  farmer  must  always  be  governed  by  the 
circumstances  of  his  own  case. 

497.  Depth  of  Covering.  The  seed  should  be  covered  to 
such  a  depth  as  to  secure  the  amount  of  heat,  moisture 
and  air,  necessary  for  its  germination.  This  depth  varies 
with  the  kind  of  plant,  the  nature  of  the  soil,  the  climate 
and  the  time  of  planting. 

498.  It  is  evident  that  on  a  clay  soil  which  is  less  easily 
penetrated  by  air  and  warmth,  the  seed  should  be  covered 
less  deeply  than  on  a  sandy  one.  Spring  planting  ordi- 
narily requires  greater  depth  than  autumn. 

499.  Very  small  seeds  require  only  a  shallow  covering, 
and  in  many  cases,  a  simple  rolling  without  the  use  of 
the  harrow,  is  sufficient  to  secure  perfect  germination. 
In  common  farm  cultivation  great  losses  often  occur  from 
covering  seed  too  deeply,  especially  the  smaller  seeds, 
as  those  of  the  grasses  and  the  clovers. 

500.  Modes  of  Sowing.  The  broad  cast  or  hand  sowing 
is  the  most  common  for  the  smaller  grains.  Another  and 
n  better  method  is  by  the  use  of  the  seed  sower  or  drilling 
machine.  By  the.  first  a  greater  amount  of  seed  is 
:required,  while  it  is  difficult,  even  for  a  skilful  workman, 
to  distribute  the  seed  equally.     By  the  second,  the  seed 


ADVANTAGE   OF   DRILL   SOWING.  155 

is  not  only  uniformly  distributed,  but  may  be  sown  in 
drills,  which  has  some  decided  advantages  over  broad  cast 
sowing,  especially  for  wheat.  Winter  wheat  sown  in  tlie 
drill  is  less  likely  to  be  thrown  out  by  the  frosts,  because 
it  is  more  uniformly  covered  and  better  rooted. 

501.  Any  concentrated  manure  may  be  put  into  the 
ground  with  the  seed,  and  the  growth  of  the  plant  may 
thus  be  promoted.  A  larger  yield  is  secured  in  propor- 
tion to  the  quantity  of  seed  sown,  and  a  larger  yield  per 
acre.  Drill  sowing,  or  sowing  in  rows,  also  allows  culti- 
vation by  a  machine  admirably  adapted  to  this  purpose, 
if  the  crop  needs  it,  during  the  early  part  of  its  growth. 

502.  When  seeds  of  any  kind  are  sown  broad  cast  by 
hand,  they  may  be  covered  by  the  plough,  the  harrow,  the 
cultivator  or  the  roller.  The  larger  seeds,  like  Indian 
corn,  are  usually  dropped  by  hand  and  covered  with  the 
hoe,  but  they  may  be  dropped  and  covered  by  seed  sowers 
made  expressly  for  the  purpose.  When  a  large  extent 
of  land  is  to  be  planted  the  machine  is  far  more  economi- 
cal. Indeed,  it  is  often  necessary  to  use  it  to  save  time 
and  labor.  Seed  sowers  are  used  only  on  land  properly 
prepared  by  ploughing,  manuring  and  harrowing.  They 
are  made  to  drop  the  seed  either  in  hills  or  in  rows, 
according  to  the  wish  of  the  farmer. 

503.  If  the  machine  is  not  used  the  ground  is  first 
prepared  by  ploughing  and  harrowing,  and  furrowed  three 
or  four  feet  apart,  according  to  the  kind  of  corn  to  be 
planted,  with  a  light  horse-plough  ;  the  manure  is  dropped 
in  the  hills  at  suitable  distances,  and  the  seed  then  dropped 
upon  it  by  hand  and  covered  with  the  hoe. 

504.  It  is  generally  found  best,  especially  on  late  landsj 
to. spread  and  plough  in  a  part  of  the  manure,  and  to 
drop  the  remainder  in  the  hills.     The  manure  in  the  hills 

'14*  •  .      -  -     •  ^    •• 


156 

gives  the  crop  a  vigorous  start  at  the  outset,  while  that 
which  is  ploughed  in,  being  better  distributed  in  the  soil, 
has  its  eifect  afterwards,  and  the  crop  does  far  better  in 
the  end  than  it  would  if  the  whole  were  placed  in  the  hill. 
The  land  is  also  left  in  a  better  condition  for  a  future 
crop  where  the  manure  is  spread.  Many  use  some  con- 
centrated manure  in  the  hill,  and  plough  or  harrow  in 
the  coarser  barnyard  manures. 

505.  Transplanting.  Transplanting  is  the  removal  of 
a  plant  from  the  place  where  it  has  grown  to  another. 
The  seeds  of  many  plants,  as  those  of  tobacco,  cabbages, 
and  many  varieties  of  shrubs  and  trees,  are  often  sown 
in  a  place  prepared  for  the  purpose,  and  the  plants  spring- 
ing from  them  afterwards  transplanted  to  tlie  fields  where 
they  are  to  grow. 

506.  This  mode  of  culture  has  several  advantages :  it 
confines  the  expense  of  the  early  culture  to  a  small  space, 
while  the  seed  is  placed  in  the  best  condition  for  its  early 
and  rapid  development ;  it  also  gives  more  time  for  the 
preparation  of  the  land  in  which  the  crops  are  to  be 
raised. 

507.  To  make  transplanting  successful,  the  plants 
should  be  strong  and  vigorous.  They  may  be  made  so 
by  preparing  the  seed-bed  thoroughly  and  taking  care  to 
prevent  them  from  being  crowded  by  each  other  or 
injured  by  weeds,  after  they  have  sprung  up.  They 
should  be  removed  very  carefully,  all  injury  to  the  roots 
being  avoided,  otherwise  they  will  suffer  much  from  the 
removal. 

508.  While  the  plants  are  young  there  is  little  danger 
in  transplanting,  and  if  they  are  set  out  in  a  mellow  and 
well  manured  soil  at  a  favorable  time,  they  will  continue 
to  grow  with  only  a  slight  temporary  check. 


TRANSPLANTING.  157 

509.  In  removing  older  plants,  like  trees  and  shrubs, 
which  have  been  undisturbed  for  a  long  time,  the  utmost 
care  is  required  in  taking  them  up,  to  prevent  the  loss  of 
the  small  fibrous  roots  which  often  extend  to  great 
distances  from  the  trunk. 

510.  The  growth  of  the  stem,  or  that  part  of  the  trunk 
above  ground  with  its  leaves  and  branches,. is  in  propor- 
tion to  the  extent  of  the  roots,  and  the  injury  which  the 
latter  sustain  in  transplanting  may  be  counteracted,  in  a 
measure  by  trimming  off  a  corresponding  portion  of  the 
top. 

511.  The  laceration  or  breaking  of  the  roots  checks 
the  growth  of  the  top  in  proportion  to  the  injury  or  loss 
of  the  root.  In  the  natural  condition  of  the  tree  there 
are  only  roots  enough  to  absorb  the  nourishment  required 
by  it,  and  when  a  part  of  the  root  is  cut  off,  or  seriously 
injured,  the  i^emaining  part  cannot,  of  course,  furnish  sap 
enough  for  the  whole  tree.  In  this  case,  if  a  part  of  the 
top  is  removed,  less  sap  is  required,  the  remaining  roots 
can  supply  all  that  is  necessary,  and  the  tree  may  thus  be 
saved. 

512.  One  method  of  obtaining  good  shrubs  and  trees 
for  ornamental  purposes,  is  to  sow  the  seeds  in  beds  prop- 
erly prepared.  The  soil  used  for  this  purpose  should  be 
deeply  trenched  and  richly  manured  to  promote  rapid 
growth.  It  is  most  convenient  to  lay  out  the  beds  from 
tliree  to  five  feet  wide,  and  to  have  the  rows  run  across. 
Early  autumn  is  generally  thought  to  be  the  best  time  for 
sowing,  though  some  prefer  mid-summer.  The  seeds  of 
each  species  may  be  sown  soon  after  they  have  become 
fully  ripe. 


158  CULTURE  OF  THE  CEREALS. 

CHAPTER    XYI. 

CULTURE    OF    THE    CEREALS. 

513.  The  plants  generally  cultivated  by  farmers  may 
be  divided  into  four  classes :  1.  The  cereals  or  grain 
plants,  comprising  the  plaints  cultivated  for  their  large 
farinaceous,  or  mealy  seeds ;  2.  Leguminous  vegetables ; 
3.  Forage  plants,  or  plants  used  principally  in  the  feed- 
ing of  stock  ;  and  4.  Plants  used  in  the  industrial  arts. 

514.  The  Cereals.  The  term  cereal  is  derived  from 
Ceres,  the  fabled  goddess  of  corn.  The  cereals  embrace 
all  those  annual  grasses  cultivated  for  the  nourishment  of 
man,  including  Indian  corn,  wheat,  rye,  barley,  oats,  rice 
and  millet.  Buckwheat  might  be  added,  in  a  practical 
classification,  though  not  properly  included  among  the 
cereals,  as  its  seeds  have  much  the  same  quality  and  are 
used  for  the  same  purposes  as  those  of  the  cereals  properly 
so  called. 

515.  Indian  Com,  or  maize,  is  one  of  the  most  important 
of  the  cereals  cultivated  in  this  country,  both  on  account 
of  the  numerous  uses  to  which  it  may  be  put,  and  the 
great  amount  of  nourishment  it  contains.  It  is  an 
American  j^lant,  and  was  found  in  cultivation  among  the 
Indians  on  the  first  discovery  of  the  continent. 

516.  Light  and  porous  loams  a  little  sandy,  are  most 
likely,  if  Avell  tilled,  to  yield  large  crops  of  Indian  corn. 
But  it  easily  adapts  itself  to  a  variety  of  soils,  and  will 
flourish  on  all  if  well  manured,  except  the  strongest 
clays. 

517.  Land  should  be  prepared  for  Indian  corn,  in  very 
much  the  same  way  as  for  other  crops,  and  the  preparation 


INDIAN    CORN.  159 

must  vary  according  to  the  crops  for  which  the  piece  has 
been  used  and  the  state  it  is  left  in.  If  the  field  that  is 
to  be  planted  with  corn  has  been  in  grass  for  some  years, 
it  should  be  well  ploughed  the  autumn  before  the  planting, 
and  then  left  till  spring,  when  it  will  be  partially  mellowed 
and  may  be  cross  ploughed,  manured,  harrowed  and 
planted. 

518.  But  stiff,  undrained  soils,  and  lands  lying  on  the 
slopes  of  hills  liable  to  -be  washed  down  by  the  rains, 
should,  if  possible,  be  broken  up  in  the  spring  instead 
of  the  fall,  as  the  sward  will  not  rot,  and  if  turned  up  in 
cross  ploughing  in  spring,  will  be  troublesome  during  the 
cultivation  of  the  crop. 

519.  The  manures  used  with  this  crop  must  be  varied 
according  to  the  character  of  the  soil.  On  light,  well 
worked  and  mellowed  land,  old  and  well  decomposed  barn- 
yard manure  or  compost  is  best,  but  if  the  soil  is  stifFer 
and  somewhat  clayey  the  coarser  barnyard  manures  may 
be  used  to  advantage,  as  they  improve  the  texture  of  the 
soil  and  produce  heat  by  fermentation. 

520.  It  is  generally  thought  best  to  plough  in  the  coarse 
manures  in  the  fall,  as  they  thus  become  decomposed  and 
prepare  the  ground  for  spring  planting.  They  may  be 
turned  under  on  the  sod  or  on  a  grain  stubble.  But  if  the 
ground  is  level  they  may  be  spread  upon  the  furrow,  after 
fall  ploughing,  and  left  over  winter  to  be  tu.rned  under  in 
cross  ploughing  in  spring. 

521.  In  cross  ploughing,  the  sod  turned  under  the 
autumn  before  should  not  be  disturbed.  If  the  manure 
is  ploughed  under  in  the  fall,  some  finer  compost  should 
also  be  used  in  spring  to  be  spread  on  the  furrows  after 
cross  ploughing,  and  harrowed  or  cultivated  in.  If  the 
soil  be  stiff  and  cold,  such  as  is  ill  adapted  to  Indian  corn. 


160  CULTURE  OF  THE  CEREALS. 

a  portion  of  the  fine  manure  or  compost  should  be  placed 
in  the  hill. 

522.  The  Indian  corn  plant  is  a  gross  feeder,  and  needs 
a  great  deal  of  manure  unless  the  land  is  very  rich.  If 
all  this  manure  is  put  into  the  hills,  the  labor  and  expense 
of  application  and  the  care  of  the  crop  through  its  whole 
growth  will  be  increased,  on  account  of  the  hillhig  up 
around  the  corn  made  necessary  by  putting  so  much  in 
the  hill. 

523.  Another  objection  to  putting  much  coarse  manure 
in  the  hill  is  that  the  plant  is  more  liable  to  suffer  from 
drought,  and  the  land  is  not  benefited  to  so  great  an 
extent  as  when  a  part  of  the  manure  is  spread  or  evenly 
distributed  through  the  soil. 

524.  Some  spread  and  plough  in  the  coarser  manures, 
and  use  some  concentrated  fertilizer  in  the  hill  to  give  the 
crop  an  early  and  vigorous  start.  No  doubt  a  judicious 
use  of  concentrated  manures  is  good  economy,  and  in 
some  circumstances  it  may  be  well  to  use  them  more 
freely,  but  they  are  not  to  be  recommended  in  all  cases, 
as  their  cost  is  frequently  greater  than  the  profit  which 
may  be  made  from  their  use. 

525.  To  raise  corn  profitably  the  land  must  be  in  good 
condition ;  it  may  be  made  so  by  the  use  of  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  manure  at  the  time  of  planting,  or  by  long- 
continvied  and  judicious  manuring  previously.  It  is  not 
worth  while  to  raise  poor  crops.  It  requires  about  as 
much  labor  in  ploughing,  hoeing  and  harvesting,  to  raise 
thirty  or  forty  bushels  jjer  acre,  as  to  raise  from  sixty  to 
seventy-five  bushels  per  acre,  and  tlie  profit  is  greater  with 
the  larger  crop. 

526.  In  the  culture  of  Indian  corn,  as  of  many  other 
crops,  the  one  thing  especially  important  is  thorough  and 


ARRANGEMENT   OF  THE   HILLS. 


161 


careful  ploughing  in  the  first  place.     There  can  be  no 
successful  cultivation  of  this  crop  without  it. 

527.  The  land  having  been  fully  prepared  by  repeated 
ploughing,  manuring  and  harrowing,  the  next  step  will 
be  to  plant  the  seed.  This  may  be  done  by  hand  or  by  a 
machine.  If  the  grains  are  to  be  dropped  and  covered 
by  hand,  the  rows  are  marked  out  by  furrows  made  with 
a  light  one-horse  plough  or  some  similar  implement. 

528.  The  hills  should  be  three  or  four  feet  apart  in 
each  direction,  the 
distance  between 
them  varying  ac- 
cording to  the  kind 
of  corn  Avhich  is 
to  be  planted;  the 
smaller  varieties 
require  less  space 
than  the  larger. 
If  the  corn-planter 
(Fig.  24)  is  used, 
the  labor  of  furrowing  is  avoided. 

529.  If  the  soil  has  been  properly  prepared  and  is  in 
good  condition,  it  is  best  to  have  the  plants  stand  as 
closely  as  they  can  without  interfering  with  their  perfect 
development,  for  it  is  better  that  the  soil  should  be  well 
shaded.  The  spaces  between  the  hills  should,  therefore, 
be  only  just  enough  to  allow  the  necessary  cultivation  and 
the  free  access  of  air,  light  and  heat.  On  poor  lands  only 
a  smaller  number  of  plants  should  be  suffered  to  grow, 
but  it  is  better  to  put  fewer  in  each  hill  than  to  increase 
the  distance  between  the  hills. 

530.  Many  farmers  soak  the  seed  some  hours  before 
planting,  as  a  means  of  preventing  the  depredations  of 
insects,  squirrels,  or  birds.    There  may  be  cases  where  it  is 


Fi;r.  24. 


162  CULTURE  OF  TEE  CEREALS. 

necessary,  but  except  in  particular  cases  this  seems  to  be 
altogether  unnecessary.  It  may  sometimes  be  useful, 
however,  by  keeping  off  these  various  depredators.  In 
such  cases  soak  the  seed  in  tar  water  twelve  hours,  then 
coat  it  with  ground  plaster,  or  ashes  or  lime. 

531.  Larger  crops  can  generally  be  obtained  by  drill 
planting  instead  of  planting  in  hills,  but  the  labor  of  hoe- 
ing and  cultivating  is  greater,  and  except  for  the  smallest 
varieties,  drill  planting  is  not  common. 

532.  Indian  corn,  whether  planted  by  hand  or  with  ^ 
corn  planter,  should  generally  be  covered  about  an  inch 
and  a  half  deep  to  insure  sufficient  moisture,  and  give 
the  plant  a  firm  hold  on  the  soil.  But  on  a  moist  or 
lieavy  soil  an  inch  is  enough. 

533.  The  first  hoeing  or  dressing  may  be  given  when 
the  plants  are  about  two  inches  high.  At  this  time  a  light 
plough  may  be  iised,  running  as  near  one  of  the  rows  as 
it  can  without  injuring  the  plants,  and  then  returning 
between  the  same  rows  and  running  near  the  other.  A 
back  furrow  will  thus  be  left  half  way  between  the  rows 
which  should  not  at  this  time  be  disturbed  by  the  hoe. 
The  plough  will  do  no  injury  while  the  plants  are  still  so 
small  and  before  the  fibrous  roots  have  extended. 

534.  In  subsequent  dress- 
ings, the  horse-hoe,  (Fig. 
25,)  should  be  used.  The 
plough  would  break  and  in- 
jure the  roots,  and  should 
neverbe  introduced  between 
the  rows  after  the  first  hoe- 
ing. The  horse-hoe  will  stir  the  ground  as  deeply  as  it  is 
safe  to  go.  In  the  second  dressing,  the  cultivator,  or  what 
is  far  better,  the  horse-hoe,  will  partially  level  the  back 


Fig.  25. 


MODES   OF  HARVESTING.  163 

furrow  made  by  the  plough,  and  a  third  dressing  will 
leave  it  quite  level. 

535.  Three  hoeings  are  thought  by  some  to  bej  requisite 
for  Indian  corn ;  but,  in  general,  the  oftener  it  is  hoed 
the  better.  Should  a  drought  occur,  the  frequent  use  of 
the  horse-hoe  is  particularly  advantageous,  especially  if 
there  be  a  moist  subsoil.  It  gives  the  soil  a  useful  stirring 
and  will  produce  a  much  more  vigorous  growth.  Great 
care  should  be  taken  that  no  weeds  be  allowed  in  the 
field. 

536.  While  the  crop  is  still  standing  in  the  field,  just 
before  the  gathering,  the  farmer  should  mark  the  earliest 
and  best  formed  ears,  so  that  they  may  be  distinguished 
at  harvesting  and  saved  for  seed  the  next  year.  This  is 
better  than  to  trust  to  a  selection  at  the  time  of  husking, 
or  after  the  corn  is  put  into  the  bin. 

537.  Those  who  make  a  practice  of  cutting  the  top 
stalks,  do  it  about  the  middle  of  September,  or  when  the 
tassel  begins  to  grow  dry,  after  the  kernel  has  hardened. 
In  some  cases  it  is  thought  that  cutting  the  stalks  hastens 
the  ripening  of  the  grain,  but  if  the  ears  are  soft  at  the 
time  of  cutting,  they  will  shrivel  and  never  ripen  full  and 
sound. 

538.  But  the  best  and  most  enlightened  practice  appears 
to  be  to  cut  up  the  whole  plant  from  the  ground  after  the 
stalk  has  slightly  turned  and  begain  to  ripen,  and  stock 
it  or  set  it  in  a  cluster  of  bundles  bound  together  at 
the  top  so  as  to  shed  the  rain,  where  it  will  soon  ripen 
up,  when  the  ears  may  be  taken  off  as  it  stands  on  the 
field,  or  the  whole  removed  to  the  barn  to  be  husked. 

539.  By  far  the  quickest  and  cheapest  way  to  cut  and 
stock,  is  to  take  a  pole  twelve  feetlong  and  fis  to  one  end 
two  legs  or  supports  four  or  five  feet  long.     The  pole  is 

15 


164 


CULTURE   OF  THE   CEREALS. 


pierced  with  a  hole  through  which  to  insert  a  cross  stick 
horizontally.  Two  men  take  five  rows,  setting  the  stooking 
pole  on  the  middle  row,  and  cut  up  enough  for  a  good 
sized  bundle  for  each  of  the  four  corners  made  by  the 

cross  stick  as 
shown  in  fig- 
ure 26.  The 
binding  and  a 

-5^  .^-^-^.sg,,^^  -^  -  -  ^     -.,^      twist    around 

^==^:;;^^^^K^">^g^^^^^^'-^  the  top  of  the 

^^*     *  four  bundles, 

is  the  work  of  a  moment,  Avhen  the  cross  stick  is  pulled 

out  and  the  pole  drawn  along  for  another  stook. 

540.  Wheat.  There  are  many  varieties  of  wheat, 
the  differences  between  them  being  generally  the 
result  of  differences  of  climate,  soil  and  culture ; 
but  those  most  commonly  raised  may  be  distin- 
guished by  the  general  terms  of  winter  and  spring 
wheat.     The  form  of  the  ear  is  shown  in  figure  27. 

541.  The  root  of  winter  wheat  is  most  admirably 
fitted  to  endure  the  severe  colds  of  a  high  latitude. 
The  main  seminal  root  is  pushed  out  at  the  same 
time  with  the  germ,  and  nourishes  the  plant  in  its 
early   growth.     Winter  wheat  has   a   larger  and 

Fig.  27.  pivimper  ear  and  a  harder  and  more  erect  stem 
than  spring  wheat.  It  should  be  sown  early  in  autumn, 
in  our  latitude  as  early  as  September. 

542.  Wheat  requires  a  stronger  and  more  tenacious  soil 
than  Indian  corn,  and  more  moisture;  but  if  water  is 
found  in  excess,  the  tissues  of  the  plant  become  soft  and 
watery,  and  it  runs  to  stalk,  producing  little  grain.  Soils 
of  a  moderate  degree  of  stiffness  are  best  suited  to  it,  but 


SOWING   OF   WHEAT.  165 

it  will  grow  on  a  light  soil  far  better  in  a  damp  climate 
than  in  a  dry  one. 

543.  The  soil  must  of  course  be  such  as  to  furnish  the 
plant  with  the  mineral  substances  it  requires.  Lime,  for 
example,  in  small  quantities,  is  essential  to  good  wheat 
land,  and  no  soil,  however  good  it  may  be  in  other 
respects,  and  however  favorable  the  climate,  will  produce 
first  rate  crops  of  wheat,  unless  it  contain  a  proper 
proportion  of  lime. 

544.  Though  wheat,  like  most  other  plants,  thrives  best 
on  a  thoroughly  tilled  soil,  deep  ploughing  is  less  impor- 
tant in  its  cultivation  than  in  that  of  Indian  corn,  since 
its  roots  do  not  strike  down  so  deep,  while  from  the  season 
of  its  growth  it  is  not  so  liable  to  suffer  from  droughts. 
But  thorough  cultivation  is  requisite  that  the  land  may 
be  as  clean  as  possible,  that  is,  perfectly  free  from  weeds 
and  noxious  plants  at  the  time  of  sowing. 

545.  The  land  having  been 
well   manured,   ploughed  and 
harrowed,  wheat  may  be  sown 
broadcast    by   hand   or    by    a 
broadcast  sowing  machine,  (Fig.   ___ 
28,)  and  harrowed  in,  or  it  may  ^fc;^^^^ 
be  sown  in  drills  by  a  machine  Fig.  28. 
admirably  adapted  to  this  purpose. 

546.  Both  methods  have  their  advantages,  but  the  drill 
sowing  is  the  more  economical  of  the  two,  as  it  saves  seed 
by  its  more  uniform  distribution.  Wheat  properly  drilled 
in  is  less  liable  to  be  thrown  out  by  the 'frost  and  killed. 
The  yield  per  acre  is  also  larger,  particularly  if  care  be 
taken  to  stir  the  ground  and  keep  out  weeds  between  the 
drills  during  the  growth  of  the  plant. 


166  CULTURE  OF  THE  CEREALS. 

547.  Besides,  in  drill  sowing  the  crop  gets  the  benefit 
of  greater  light  and  heat,  and  a  freer  circulation  of  air, 
and  hence  a  more  thrifty  growth.  In  addition  to  these 
important  advantages  of  the  drill  over  hand  sowing,  some 
concentrated  manure  may  be  applied  in  the  drill,  and  the 
wheat  feels  its  influence  more  directly  and  quickly  than 
if  all  the  manure  were  spread  and  turned  under. 

548.  From  four  to  six  pecks  of  winter  wheat,  and  from 
two  to  two  and  a  half  bushels  of  spring  wdieat,  should  be 
sown  to  the  acre.  The  quantity  will  vary  according  to 
the  fertility  of  the  soil,  the  smaller  quantity  being  required 
on  the  most  fertile  soil. 

549.  Tlie  culture  of  roots  forms  an  excellent  prepara- 
tion for  wheat,  because  they  cleanse  and  mellow  the  soil. 
Wheat  should  therefore  follow  a  root  crop  in  the  rotation 
rather  than  an  Indian  corn  crop,  though  on  an  oat  stubble 
it  is  often  found  to  succeed  well. 

550.  Unless  the  ground  has  been  heavily  manured  for 
a  previous  crop,  it  should  be  well  manured  before  sowing 
wheat.  A  strong  and  vigorous  growth  in  the  fall  is  very 
important,  as  it  will  enable  the  roots  to  store  up  a  large 
p.mount  of  nourishment  for  the  early  spring  growth,  and 
the  plant  will  advance  with  great  rapidity  in  the  early  part 
of  the  following  season.  Spring  wheat  should  be  sown 
as  early  in  April  as  the  condition  of  the  land  will  allow. 

551.  Wheat  should  be  harvested  before  it  gets  dead  ripe. 
It  makes  more  and  better  flour  if  cut  just  after  the  grain 
has  begun  to  harden,  but  while  it  is  still  so  soft  that  it 
can  be  crushed  with  ease  between  the  thumb  and  finger. 
The  straw  is  then  greenish  but  partially  turned  yellow. 

552.  If  the  wheat  is  not  gathered  at  this  time  it  changes 
very  rapidly  in  favorable  weather,  and  the  grain  and  straw 
soon  grow  less  valuable,  a  part  of  the  starch  of  which  the 


CULTIVATION    OF   RYE, 


167 


grain  is  composed  becoming  bran.  This  should  not  be 
forgotten,  and  when  the  wheat  reaches  the  proper  degree 
of  ripeness  it  should  be  cut  at  once. 

553.  Exposure  to  rains  after  cutting  is  very  injurious 
to  wheat.  It  makes  both  grain  and  straw  darker  in  color 
and  is  apt  to  cause  a  partial  decay  on  the  surface.  The 
parts  thus  affected  mix  with  the  rest  in  grinding,  and  give 
the  flour  a  dark  hue.  Wheat  should  therefore  be  stacked, 
or  housed  as  soon  as  possible  after  reaping. 

554:.  Rye.  Rye  holds  the  next  rank  among 
the  cereals  in  its  nutritive  qualities  and  its 
importance  as  food  for  man.  The  form  of  an  ear 
of  rye  is  shown  in  figure  29.  It  occupies  the  same 
place  in  the  rotation  on  light  soils  that  wlieat  does 
on  heavy  ones. 

655.  Wheat,  as  we  have  seen,  is  most  produc- 
tive only  on  a  calcareous  soil — that  is,  a  soil  which 
contains  more  or  less  lime.  Rye  accommodates 
itself  to  much  lighter  and  drier  soils,  and  though 
it  does  better  where  there  is  some  lime  in  the  soil, 
it  does  not  require  the  presence  of  this  substance 
as  wheat  does,  and  in  point  of  fact  it  is  usually 
sown  upon  the  poorest  soils  of  the  farm. 

556.  There  are  two  well-marked  varieties    of 
rye,  the  winter  and  spring,  which  are  cultivated 
like  winter  and  spring  wheat.     Rye  is  much  less      ^^' 
sensitive  to  the  cold  than  wheat,  while  its  growth  is  much 
more  rapid.     Hence  it  is  a  better  staple  crop  for  a  high 
northern  latitude. 

557.  When  sown  for  its  grain,  about  one  bushel  of  seed 
per  acre  is  required.  If  sown  as  a  green  crop  for  soiling 
or  feeding  out  green  to  cattle,  two  or  three  bushels  per 
acre  are  usually  allowed. 

15* 


168 


CULTURE   OF   THE   CEREALS. 


558.  On  sheep  farms  winter  rye  sown  the  previous  fall, 
will  often  furnish  a  very  early  and  nutritious  feed  in  spring- 
before  the  pastures  are  in  a  condition  to  graze,  and  the 
more  extended  use  of  this  crop  for  this  purpose  would  be 
judicious,  particularly  on  dry  poor  soils  near  the  home- 
stead. 

559.  Rye  straw  cut  short  and  steamed,  is  sometimes 
mixed  with  Indian  or  linseed  meal,  shorts,  or  other  fine 
feed,  and  contains  more  nutriment  than  the  straw  of 
wheat,  but  it  is  so  tough  and  coarse  that  it  is  not  relished 
by  cattle  unless  artificially  prepared,  while  its  value  for 
other  purposes  is  such  that  it  is  seldom  used  as  food  for 
stock. 

560.  The  principal  disease  of  this  plant  is 

y  known  under  the  name  of  ergot.  It  is  a 
kind  of  spur  or  morbid  growth  which  takes 
the  place  of  the  grain.  Ergot  is  not  con- 
fined exclusively  to  rye,  but  occasionally 
attacks  ?ome  of  the  other  grasses,  though 
more  common  in  rye.  It  is  poisonous.  Rye 
is  more  liable  to  it  in  low  damp  lands,  than 
on  dry  and  light  uplands.  It  is  illustrated 
in  figure  30. 

561.  Barley.  Barley  (Fig.  31,)  grows  and  ripens  with 
astonishing  rapidity,  and  hence  may  be  cultivated  in 
many  climates  where  other  cereals  cannot.  It  requires  a 
light  fertile  soil  well  cultivated  and  free  from  weeds, 
which  are  more  injurious  to  it  than  to  any  other  grain. 
The  manure  used  should  be  old  and  well  decomposed. 

562.  Barley  should  be  made  to  follow  a  hoed  crop,  if 
possible,  and  should  be  sown  as  soon  after  the  tenth  of 
May  as  practicable.  It  may  be  simply  harrowed  in  on 
stiff  soils,  or  harrowed  and  rolled  on  light  ones.     After 


Fig.  30. 


THE    YIELD    OF    OATS. 


169 


coming  up  it  is  more  likely  to  be  hurt  by 
the  feeding  and  trampling  of  sheep  and 
other  stock  than  either  wheat  or  rye. 

563.  It  should  be  harvested  before  it  is 
perfectly  ripe,  as  it  is  soon  injured  if  allowed 
to  stand  too  long.  If  harvested  early,  the 
grain  is  of  better  quality  and  less  liable  to 
shell  off  and  be  wasted. 

564.  Oats.  Oats  (Fig.  32,)  do  best  in  a 
damp  climate  and  a  moist  soil,  with  a 
moderate  summer  temperature.  As  we 
seldom  find  these  conditions  united  in  this 
country,  the  crop  rarely  succeeds  so  well 
here  as  in  some  other  countries. 

565.  In  the  best  oat  districts  of  Scotland 
and  Ireland,  the  average  weight  of  a  bushel 
of  oats  is  forty-three  or  forty-four  pounds, 
while  more  than  a  hundred  bushels  per  acre 
are  often  gathered.  In  this  country  crops 
of  eighty  or  ninety  bushels  are  regarded  as 
large,  the  average  yield  being  much  less, 
while  the  weight  per  bushel  is  rarely  more 
than  from  twenty-eight  to  thirty-two  pounds. 

566.  After  thorough  ploughing,  oats  may 
be  sown  broadcast  either  by  hand  or  by  some 
of  the  admirable  broadcast  seed  sowers,  and 
covered  by  means  of  the  common  harrow 
and  the  roller.  The  latter  is  especially 
useful  on  light  lands,  as  the  compression  of 
the  soil  affected  by  it  hastens  the  germina- 
tion of  the  seed  and  causes  it  to  spring  up 
uniformly.  From  two  to  four  bushels  of 
seed  per  acre  should  be  used,  according  to 


Fia:.  Gl. 


Fig.  32. 


170  CULTURE  OF  THE  CEREALS. 

the  richness  of  tlie  soil  and  the  purpose  for  which  the 
crop  is  designed. 

567.  Oats  produce  an  admirable  green  crop  for  feeding 
out  to  milch  cows  and  other  stock,  on  account  of  the 
rapidity  and  earliness  of  their  growth.  When  sown  for  this 
purpose  a  larger  quantity  of  seed  is  required  than  if  the 
design  is  to  produce  a  crop  of  grain.  In  either  case  the 
earlier  they  arc  sown  in  spring  the  better. 

568.  The  roller  is  sometimes  drawn  over  the  young 
plants  before  they  have  tillered,  or  sent  up  side  shoots. 
It  then  checks  the  upward  growth  of  the  main  stalk  and 
multiplies  the  side  shoots,  thus  increasing  the  amount  of 
t!ie  product. 

569.  Oats  should  be  cut  before  the  straw  has  turned 
completely  yellow  ;  if  left  longer,  the  amount  of  nutri- 
ment both  in  the  grain  and  the  stalk  becomes  less,  and 
there  is  a  loss  by  shelling  out  in  harvesting.  They  may 
be  cut  with  the  scythe,  and  in  many  cases  the  mowing 
machine  or  reaper  can  be  used  to  advantage.  They 
should  be  left  to  dry  a  day  or  two  before  storing  in  the 
barn. 

570.  In  this  country  oats  are  used  almost  exclusively 
for  feeding  horses  and  other  animals,  for  which  purpose 
they  are  very  excellent,  as  they  contain  a  large  amount 
of  nourishment.  Oat  meal  is  also  extensively  used  by 
young  men  during  their  training  or  preparation  for 
athletic  games  and  exercises,  being  admirably  adapted  to 
the  formation  of  muscle  and  strength.  It  is  used  for 
human  food  to  a  great  extent  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 
The  straw  is  more  valuable  for  fodder  than  that  of  wheat, 
rye  or  barley. 

571.  Buckwheat.  Buckwheat  is  not  properly  a  cereal 
grain,  but  belongs  to  an  entirely  different  order  of  plants 


RAISING   OF   BUCKWHEAT,  171 

known  as  knotweeds.  There  are  three  cultivated  species 
of  this  genus,  the  seeds  of  which  when  ground,  are  used 
as  food  for  man.  Of  these  only  one,  buckwheat,  is  raised 
in  this  country,  one  in  Italy,  and  the  third  in  China. 

572.  As  it  remains  in  the  ground  but  a  short  time,  it 
may  be  cultivated  in  high  northern  latitudes,  and  it  is 
seldom  found  in  this  country  except  in  the  region  north 
of  Tennessee  and  North  Carolina. 

573.  This  plant  succeeds  best  on  light  soils,  but  will 
do  well  on  almost  any  soil  except  a  heavy  clay.  It  is 
frequently  sown  to  plough  in  green  as  a  manure  in 
preparing  for  some  other  crop.  For  this  purpose  it  is 
less  valuable  than  clover,  or  a  suitable  mixture  of  plants, 
but  if  ploughed  in  when  in  blossom,  it  is  beneficial  in 
all  soils  which  contain  but  little  organic  or  vegetable 
matter. 

574.  Before  sowing  buckwheat  the  land  is  usually 
ploughed  once  and  then  lightly  harrowed.  No  other 
preparation  is  necessary.  The  seed  is  sown  in  June,  and 
harrowed  in.  About  three  pecks  per  acre  is  enough, 
though  some  farmers  sow  a  bushel,  broadcast.  Good 
crops  of  buckwheat  have  sometimes  been  obtained  from 
seed  sown  after  a  crop  of  barley  has  been  taken  from 
the  land,  and  some  sow  it  in  August  with  winter  wheat. 

575.  When  ready  for  harvesting,  it  may  be  cut  with 
the  scythe  or  the  cradle  ;  the  latter  is  better.  It  is  then 
raked  or  gathered  into  small  bundles,  which  are  fastened 
by  twisting  the  tops,  and  allowed  to  stand  and  dry  on  the 
field.  If  mown  with  the  scythe  and  left  in  the  swath,  it 
will  shell  out.  It  dries  slowly,  and  should  be  threshed 
as  soon  as  it  is  stored,  since  there  is  much  danger  of  its 
heating.  The  yield  of  this  crop  is  from  twenty  to  forty 
bushels  per  acre. 


172  LEGUMINOUS   PLANTS.     . 

576.  Millet.  Several  plants  of  different  species  pass 
under  the  name  of  millet,  and  are  cultivated,  to  some 
extent,  for  their  seeds.  The  common  millet  is  best 
known  in  this  country.  Millet  is  often  sown  to  cut  up 
green  for  stock.  If  raised  for  winter  fodder,  it  is  cut  and 
cured  like  hay. 

577.  Millet  flourishes  best  in  a  dry  sandy  loam,  well 
and  deeply  pulverized  by  the  plough  and  the  harrow. 
If  evenly  sown,  a  peck  of  seed  per  acre  is  enough,  if  it  is 
cultivated  for  the  seed.  But  when  it  is  designed  to  be 
cut  to  feed  out  green  to  cattle,  a  larger  amount  of  seed 
should  be  used. 

578.  Millet  is  regarded  as  an  exhausting  crop  if 
allowed  to  ripen,  but  it  will  do  well  on  land  too  light  for 
grass,  and  deserves  to  be  more  extensively  cultivated 
than  it  now  is.  It  may  be  sown  from  the  middle  of  May 
to  July,  and  harvested  as  the  grasses  are  for  hay,  but 
when  cultivated  for  the  seed,  it  should  be  allowed  to 
stand  till  nearly  ripe. 


CHAPTEE    XVII 


LEGUMINOUS   PLANTS. 


579.  This  class  of  plants  embraces  several  different 
genera  and  many  species  and  varieties  due  to  the  action 
of  soil,  climate  and  cultivation.  It  includes  the  cultivated 
varieties  of  tho  bean,  the  pea,  the  lentil,  the  lupine,  and 
the  vetch;  all  of  which  produce  seeds  composed  largely 


VARIETIES    OF   THE   BEAN.  173 

of  a  substance  known  to  chemistry  as  legumine,  which  is 
ahuost  the  same  as  caseine  or  the  cheesy  matter  of  milk, 
and  in  many  respects  is  like  the  gluten  or  nitrogenous 
compounds  of  the  cereals,  although  somewhat  different. 
But  the  proportion  of  starch  and  nitrogenous  substances 
contained  in  the  leguminous  plants  is  far  greater  than  that 
of  the  albumen  and  gluten  in  the  cereals. 

580.  The  Bean.  The  most  important  of  the  legumi- 
nous plants  in  our  agriculture  is  the  bean.  Tliere  are 
many  varieties  of  the  bean,  all  derived  originally  from  the 
same.  The  kinds  most  frequently  used  belong  to  the 
genus  Phaseolus,  of  which  three  prominent  varieties  are 
commonly  cultivated  as  a  field  crop.  These  are  the  larg-e 
white  bean,  the  small  white,  and  the  China  bean,  with  a 
red  or  pink  eye.  As  many  as  thirty  or  forty  sub-varieties 
of  this  genus  are  found  in  gardens,  some  of  them  known 
as  climbing,  or  jmle  beans,  others  as  bush  beans. 

581.  Beans  grow  well  on  a  variety  of  soils,  from  a  very 
light  sand  to  a  strong  loam ;  but  sandy  or  gravelly  soils 
are  better  for  them  than  strong  and  tenacious  clays.  On 
light  soils  the  plant  not  only  ripens  earlier,  but  is  cleaner 
and  freer  from  earth,  which  frequently  adheres  to  the 
plant  in  large  quantities,  during  rains,  especially  at  the 
period  of  ripening. 

582.  The  land  should  be  thoroughly  ploughed  and 
harrowed  so  as  to  be  well  mellowed.  The  stable  manure 
applied  should  be  well  decomposed  or  composted,  and  it 
may  be  placed  in  the  hill  or  drill.  The  varieties  of  the 
white  bean  are  usually  grown  in  hills,  while  bush  and 
garden  beans  are  more  often  planted  in  drills.  On  dry, 
sandy  or  gravelly  lands  beans  do  better  if  jDlantcd  thick ; 
the  rows  of  the  smaller  varieties  need  not  be  more  than 
two  feet  apart,  only  space  enough  being  left  between  them 


174  LEGUMINOUS   PLANTS. 

to  allow  cultivation.  In  drills  six  beans  may  be  planted 
to  the  foot,  and  the  quantity  of  seed  to  be  used  per  acre 
whether  sown  in  hills  or  drills,  will  be  from  one  to  three 
bushels,  according  to  the  variety. 

583.  The  proper  time  for  planting  beans  in  the  latitude 
of  New  England,  is  between  the  20th  of  May  and  the  10th 
of  June.  Generally  the  best  time  is  about  the  1st  of 
June,  but  it  varies  a  little,  according  to  the  nature  of  the 
soil  and  the  forwardness  of  the  season. 

584.  When  the  plants  have  formed  their  first  full-sized 
leaves,  generally  about  the  20th  of  June,  the  crop  should 
be  hoed  for  the  first  time  with  the  hand-hoe,  the  horse- 
hoe  or  the  cultivator  having  previously  been  used  between 
the  rows,  if  necessary.  The  best  farmers  prefer  not  to  stir 
the  ground  with  the  plough  if  the  weeds  can  be  kept  down 
with  the  hoc. 

585.  The  character  of  the  season  makes  a  great  differ- 
ence in  the  crop.  Too  much  moisture  causes  the  leaves 
to  grow  with  great  luxuriance,  and  a  very  dry  season 
often  stints  the  plant  and  prevents  it  from  growhig 
vigorously. 

586.  When  the  leaves  shrivel  and  the  pods  turn  yellow, 
the  crop  should  be  harvested,  by  pulling  up  the  plants  and 
stacking  them  in  some  convenient  place  on  the  ground  or 
on  rails.  They  will  soon  become  dry,  and  should  then  be 
taken  to  the  barn  and  threshed  out.  Unless  perfectly 
ripe  and  dry,  they  should  be  spread  out  and  occasionally 
turned  till  all  moisture  has  passed  off,  so  that  there  is  no 
longer  any  danger  of  injury  from  heating. 

587.  The  yield  will  vary  from  fifteen  to  thirty  or  forty 
bushels  per  acre,  according  to  the  land  and  culture,  and 
the  variety  planted.  The  stalks  are  valuable  as  fodder 
for  sheep  and  horses. 


CULTURE   OF   THE    PEA.  175 

588.  The  Pea.  The  gray  or  field  pea  is  most  common 
as  a  field  crop.  Many  other  varieties  of  this  vegetable 
are  found  in  the  garden  and  the  market,  each  of  which 
is  marked  by  some  peculiarity  as  to  time  of  ripening, 
size,  &c. 

589.  The  soil  best  adapted  to  the  pea  is  a  stiff  loam, 
such  as  might  be  called  clayey.  But  it  will  not  do  well 
on  a  heavy  clay.  In  general  the  pea  may  be  successfully 
cultivated  on  all  soils  which  can  be  deeply  tilled  and  richly 
manured,  except  the  stiffest  clays  and  light  sands. 

590.  Fine,  well-rotted  composts  or  ashes,  plaster  or 
lime,  should  be  used  for  this  crop,  in  preference  to  coarse 
barnyard  manures. 

591.  In  soils  of  not  more  than  ordinary  stiffness,  which 
have  been  well  cultivated  for  some  preceding  crop,  a  single 
deep  ploughing  followed  by  the  harrow  is  sufficient  for 
pease.  They  should  be  sown  in  drills,  from  two  to  four 
bushels  of  seed  being  iised  per  acre,  and  covered  about 
an  inch  and  a  half  deep.  They  may  follow  any  farm  crop 
in  the  rotation,  but  should  never  be  raised  year  after  year 
on  the  same  land.  Many  sow  pease  broadcast  with  oats, 
and  harrovv^  them  in,  and  good  crops  are  often  obtained  in 
this  way.  A  thorough  rolling  with  a  heavy  field  roller  is 
useful. 

592.  When  ready  for  use  pease  are  picked  by  hand,  or 
if  sown  broadcast  mixed  with  some  other  crop,  they  are 
cut  with  the  scythe,  and  then  taken  to  the  barn  and 
threshed  with  the  flail.  In  some  places  the  pea  is 
cultivated  to  some  extent  to  furnish  green  feed  for  stock, 
and  as  a  green  manure  crop  to  be  turned  under.  For 
these  purposes  it  is  sown  broadcast  or  hoed  in  among  corn 
at  the  last  hoeing. 

16 


176  LEGUMINOUS   PLANTS. 


\S^^/  593.  This  plant  is  liable  to  be  attacked  by  a 
jBl[  weevil,  the  pea  bug,  magnified  in  figure  33,  which 
/JBb^  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  pod  just  as  the  pea  is 
j  ^^k^  swelling.  This  is  done  at  night  or  in  cloudy 
Fig.  33.  weather.  As  soon  as  hatched  the  grub  penetrates 
the  young  pea  and  remains  there  till  towards  the  end 
of  the  following  winter,  when  it  bores  its  way  out,  after 
having  changed  into  a  pupa  and  cast  its  skin,  leaving  a 
round  smooth  hole.  The  germ  is  left  untouched,  and 
pease  injured  in  this  way  may  therefore  be  used  for  seed. 

594.  Immersing  the  seed  in  hot  water  before  planting 
will  destroy  the  grub,  if  it  still  remain  in  the  pea,  but 
this  remedy  would  generally  be  too  late,  as  the  grub 
usually  leaves  towards  the  close  of  winter. 

595.  The  insect  lives  in  other  plants,  so  that  if  destroyed 
in  every  pea  there  would  still  be  enough  left  to  deposit  an 
egg  in  every  pea  of  the  next  crop.  Hence  there  is  at 
present  no  known  remedy  against  the  weevil  for  early 
sown  pease.  Those  planted  late  in  June  are  not  so  liable 
to  be  attacked,  and  pease  might  perhaps  be  obtained  free 
from  these  insects  by  late  planting. 

596.  But  this  vegetable  must  have  abundant  moisture 
while  in  blossom,  or  its  yield  will  be  small,  and  the  droughts 
and  great  heat  of  July  are  very  injurious  to  it ;  hence  it 
will  often  be  found  that  the  evils  of  late  sowing  are  greater 
than  its  advantages. 

597.  The  Lentil  in  some  countries  forms  an  important 
article  of  food.  It  requires  a  warm,  light  soil,  but  its 
yield  both  of  straw  and  seed  is  small  compared  with  that 
of  the  bean  or  pea,  and  there  would,  probably,  be  no 
object  in  introducing  it  into  our  agriculture  as  a  field  crop. 

598.  The  Vetch  would  doubtless  succeed  well  here  as 
a  green  food  for  cows  in  milk,  or  for  horses.     It  might  be 


THE  POTATO.  177 

sown  with  oats,  using  two  bushels  of  vetches,  of  the  white 
flowered  variety,  to  one  of  oats  per  acre,  on  land  in  good 
condition. 


CHAPTER    XYIII. 


ESCULENT  ROOTS. 


599.  The  Potato,  one  of  the  most  important  plants  of  the 
farm,  may  be  raised  from  the  seed,  and  it  is  in  this  way  that 
new  varieties  are  obtained,  or  it  will  grow  from  the  tuber 
or  enlarged  portion  of  the  stem  beneath  the  ground ;  this 
contains  many  eyes  or  germs,  from  which  spring  shoots 
or  stalks,  which  reproduce  the  same  species  or  variety. 

600.  If  the  tubers  are  to  be  planted,  which  is  the 
common  mode  of  propagating  the  potato,  it  is  desirable 
that  they  should  not  be  allowed  to  ripen  fully.  They 
grow  much  more  vigorously  if  dug  before  ripening  than 
if  the  plants  stand  till  they  decay  in  autumn. 

601.  There  are  many  varieties  of  the  potato,  but  the 
chief  practical  distinction  is  known  by  the  terms  early 
and  late.  All  the  varieties  without  doubt  have  come  from 
the  wild  plants  native  to  South  America,  whence  they 
were  first  brought  into  use  in  Europe. 

602.  The  potato  contains  a  large  quantity  of  starch  in 
combination  with  water,  and  a  large  percentage  of  potash 
which  is  found  in  the  ash,  left  after  burning.  The  amount 
of  starch  is  different  in  the  different  varieties,  some  having 
as  much  as  thirty-two  per  cent. 


178  ESCULENT   ROOTS. 

603.  The  quantity  of  starch  is  greatest  in  winter.  Ger- 
mination rapidly  decreases  it  in  spring,  and  hence  potatoes 
are  less  mealy  and  palatable.  Since  the  prevalence  of  the 
potato  rot,  the  amount  of  starch  in  most  of  the  varieties 
has  very  much  diminished.  It  is  worthy  of  remark  that 
the  wild  potato  plant  contauis  but  little,  if  any,  nutriment. 

604.  With  good  management  and  in  a  good  season,  a 
fair  crop  of  potatoes  may  be  obtained  from  almost  any 
soil,  but  they  do  best  on  a  loose,  mellow,  vii-gin  soil,  or  one 
newly  cleared,  and  the  liability  to  rot  is  less  in  such  soils 
than  on  a  heavy  retentive  one,  or  on  peat  land  which  before 
the  rot  first  appeared  often  produced  very  large  crops. 
A  strong,  deep,  warm  loam  with  a  porous  subsoil  is 
especially  fitted  for  this  crop. 

605.  Very  few  plants  require  so  little  preparation  of  the 
land  for  cultivation  as  the  potato,  and  a  large  yield  has 
been  obtained  by  merely  dropping  the  tubers  along  the 
side  of  the  furrow  on  the  turned  up  sod,  and  back-fur- 
rowing to  cover  them. 

606.  Strongly  heating  manures,  such  as  that  from  the 
barnyard  while  still  unfermented,  which  were  formerly 
much  used  for  potatoes,  have  been  found  by  experience 
to  increase  the  liability  to  disease,  and  hence  should  be 
avoided,  if  possible,  and  if  used  at  all  they  should  be 
ploughed  in  rather  than  applied  in  the  hill.  Ashes  or 
plaster  of  Paris  may  be  used  in  the  hill  to  advantage. 

607.  The  potato  may  be  cut  into  pieces  before  planting, 
each  piece  containing  one  or  more  eyes  or  germs, 
and  a  certain  proportion  of  the  body  of  the  potato.  The 
latter  furnishes  nourishment  to  the  germ  in  the  first 
stages  of  its  growth.  Cutthig  is  often  judicious,  and 
always  so  when  the  potatoes  to  be  used  as  seed  are  to  be 


CULTURE  OP  THE  TURNIP.  179 

purchased.     The  largest  potatoes  grow  from  eyes  taken 
from  that  part  of  the  tuber  nearest  the  stalk. 

608.  The  crop  may  require  two  careful  hoeings,  and 
the  weeds  should  be  kept  down  by  further  cultivation, 
if  necessary.  At  the  first  hoeing,  when  the  plants  are 
from  one  to  two  inches  higli,  the  plough  or  the  cultivator 
may  be  used  between  the  rows,  as  the  workman  may 
prefer. 

609.  The  crop  is  harvested  in  the  month  of  September 
or  October,  according  to  location  and  the  variety,  being 
lifted  out  of  the  ground  by  the  hoe,  or,  which  is  far 
better,  the  eight-tined  fork.  Some  farmers  run  a  furrow 
with  the  common  plough  through  the  rows. 

610.  The  Turnip.  The  turnip  is  cultivated  Avith  the 
highest  success  only  in  a  moist  and  equable  climate.  In 
this  country,  on  account  of  the  excessive  droughts  to 
which  Ave  are  subject,  the  large  size  of  root  and  luxuriant 
growth  so  frequently  found  in  Scotland  and  the  west 
of  England,  are  seldom  to  be  seen.  Possibly  the 
deficiency  in  weight  of  the  crop  may  be  made  up  by  a 
greater  amount  of  nutriment  in  proportion  to  weight,  as 
in  the  case  of  grasses  and  other  plants  grown  in  a  dryer 
climate.  But  this  must  be  determined  by  more  extended 
experiment  and  accurate  analysis. 

611.  Tlie  common  turnip  is  very  highly  esteemed  as  a 
valuable  food  for  stock,  especially  for  sheep,  and  its 
cultivation  is  regarded  as  one  of  the  best  methods 
of  preparing  the  soil  for  a  succeeding  crop  of  grain. 

612.  Experience  has  shown  that  it  is  very  advantageous 
to  raise  alternately  a  deep  or  tap-rooted  crop  like  the 
turnip,  carrot  or  parsnip,  and  a  surface-rooted  one  like 
wheat,  rye,  barley,  &c.  The  form  of  the  root  of  some 
of  these  plants  is  shown  in  figure  34.     The  root  crop  is 

16* 


180 


ESCULENT    ROOTS. 


Fig.  34. 


not  only  valuable  in  itself, 
but  it  also  draws  up  from 
the  lower  strata  of  the  soil 
more  or  less  of  the  valua- 
ble plant  nourishing  sub- 
stances always  present 
there,  and  leaves  a  portion 
of  them  near  the  surface, 
where  they  can  easily  be 
reached  by  surface-rooted 
plants. 

618.  The  varieties  of  the  turnip  are  very  numerous. 
Those  most  commonly  cultivated  are  the  common  globe, 
the  purple-top  strap  leaf,  the  hybrid,  and  the  Swede  or 
ruta-baga.  Many  others  have  a  local  reputation,  and  arc 
more  or  less  valuable. 

614.  The  soils  best  adapted  to  the  turnip  are  light  loams, 
loose  and  open,  under  full  cultivation  or  thoroughly 
plougiied  and  pulverized.  There  are  few  crops  which 
require  so  much  preparation  of  the  land  before  planting. 

615.  The  land  designed  for  the  Swede  or  ruta-baga, 
should  be  very  deeply  ploughed  the  preceding  autumn, 
the  deeper  the  better.  Two  thorough  ploughings  should 
also  be  given  in  the  spring,  to  be  followed  by  a  careful 
harrowing  so  as  to  mellow  and  completely  disintegrate  or 
break  up  and  pulverize  the  soil.  The  flat  turnip  requires 
less  depth  and  thoroughness  of  cultivation. 

616.  The  soil  should  be  enriched  by  an  abundant  supply 
of  manure.  On  poor  soils  the  root  soon  degenerates  and 
becomes  small  and  acrid.  The  manures  best  adapted  to 
this  vegetable  are  those  rich  in  phosphates,  such  as 
dissolved  bones  or  bone  dust,  guano  and  super-phosphate 
of  lime. 


TURNIPS    AS    FOOD    FOR   STOCK.  181 

617.  Manures  rich  in  nitrogen  and  comparatively  poor 
in  phosphates,  promote  the  growth  of  the  leaf  rather  than 
of  the  bulb,  and  tlieir  injudicious  use  will  produce  an 
inferior  cyo]).  When  the  soil  is  not  very  rich  and  soft  in 
itself,  a  heavy  dressing  of  farmyard  manure  may  safely 
be  ploughed  in,  and  home  made  super-phosphate  or  bone 
dust,  mixed  with  guano,  may  be  applied  near  the  surface 
or  in  the  drill. 

618.  The  common  round  or  flat  turnip  is  usually  sown 
broadcast  and  harrowed  in,  but  the  Swede  or  ruta-baga  is 
sow^n  in  drills  about  two  and  a  quarter  feet  apart,  with 
the  seed  sower.  Xeither  should  be  planted  in  ridges  or 
raised  drills,  except  on  very  thin  soils,  as  the  benefit  to 
the  land  of  a  deep-rooted  crop  is  less  marked,  than  if 
the  ground  is  kept  level. 

619.  From  two  to  three  pounds  of  seed  are  allowed  joer 
acre.  This  Cjuantity  will  give  more  plants  than  can  be 
grown  to  advantage,  and  they  should  be  thinned  out  so 
that  there  may  be  a  proper  distance  between  them  during 
the  summer. 

620.  The  horse-hoe  may  be  used  between  the  drills 
when  the  first  rough  leaves  have  appeared.  This  is 
followed  by  the  hand-hoe  to  clear  out  the  weeds  and  stir 
the  soil  around  the  plants.  Subsequent  hoeings  will  be 
necessary  to  prevent  the  growth  of  weeds. 

621.  Turnips  may  remain  in  the  ground  till  the  hard 
frosts  begin,  without  injury.  They  should  then  be  taken 
up  and  stored  in  suitable  root  cellars  or  in  pits  on  the 
field,  where  they  may  remain  till  wanted  for  use. 

622.  As  has  been  said,  turnips  are  a  valuable  article  of 
food  for  sheep  and  all  kinds  of  store  cattle.  An  animal 
can  easily  be  fattened  on  turnips  and  hay.  They  should 
be  cut  with  the  shovel  or  the  turnip-slicer  before  being 


182  ESCULENT    ROOTS. 

fed  out.  From  seventy-five  to  one  hundred  pounds  a  day, 
in  addition  to  hay  or  straw,  may  be  fed  to  an  animal  of  a 
tliousand  pounds  weight, 

623.  The  t,ohl-rabi  is  a  hybrid  turnip,  or  turnip- 
stemmed  cabbage,  much  used  in  some  countries  as  food 
for  man  and  animals.  It  is  sown  early  in  spring  and 
cultivated  like  the  cabbage. 

624.  The  cabbage  is  not  very  common  as  a  field  crop 
in  this  country,  but  is  mostly  confined  to  the  home  or 
market  garden.  It  requires  a  very  rich  clayey  soil  and 
high  cultivation.  The  seed  is  usually  sown  in  beds  to  be 
transplanted  into  hills,  where  it  is  hoed  and  cultivated 
like  other  garden  vegetables. 

625.  The  Beet.  There  are  many  varieties  of  the  beet, 
but  all  may  be  included  under  the  two  general  designations 
of  garden  and  field  beets  ;  these  may  be  again  sub-divided 
according  to  their  size  and  color,  the  shape  of  the  root, 
and  the  purposes  to  which  they  are  applied.  Field  beets 
comprise  those  used  for  feeding  cattle  and  making  sugar. 

626.  The  Mangold  Wiirzel  is  more  esteemed  for  stock 
feeding  in  this  country  than  any  other  variety  of  beet. 
It  does  best  on  a  rich,  deep,  well-manured  soil,  with 
thorough  cultivation,  but  will  accommodate  itself  to  most 
soils  that  are  strong,  deep,  and  well  tilled. 

627.  To  prepare  the  land  for  the  beet  it  should  be 
deeply  ploughed,  manured,  and  harrowed  level ;  the  seed 
should  then  be  sown  by  a  machine  in  rows  at  the  rate  of 
three  or  four  pounds  per  acre,  and  covered  to  the  depth 
of  an  inch.  It  is  a  common  practice  to  steep  the  seed  in 
water  for  twenty-four  hours  before  sowing. 

628.  The  after  cultivation  consists  mainly  in  the  free 
use  of  the  cultivator  or  horse-hoe,  and  the  hand-hoe,  so 
as  to  keep  the  surface  fresh  and  free  from  weeds.     Man- 


CULTURE  OF  THE  CARROT.  183 

golds  may  stand  a  foot  apart  in  the  rows.  If  they  are  a 
foot  apart  in  the  rows,  the  rows  being  two  feet  apart, 
there  will  be  more  than  twenty  thousand  plants  to  the  acre. 

629.  The  Mangold  may  be  harvested  in  October.  If 
the  root  is  bruised  or  injured  it  is  liable  to  decay,  and  care 
should  be  taken  to  guard  against  the  possibility  of  this. 
When  well  stored  in  a  cool  cellar  or  in  pits  dug  for  the 
purpose,  it  will  keep  through  the  winter,  and  cattle  of  all 
kinds  are  very  fond  of  it. 

630.  The  Carrot.  The  carrot  is  very  valuable  as  a 
forage  crop,  and  is  extensively  cultivated  and  highly 
esteemed.  No  root  is  more  relished  by  domestic  animals. 
Weight  for  weight  it  is  somewhat  less  nutritive  than  the 
potato ;  but  its  greater  yield  per  acre  more  than  makes 
up  for  the  difference  in  quality. 

631.  Horses  are  especially  fond  of  it,  and  when  not 
kept  at  very  hard  work,  should  have  it  as  part  of  their 
regular  food.  It  keeps  up  their  condition,  and  gives  them 
a  fine  glossy  coat.  When  fed  to  cows  it  increases  the 
richness  of  the  milk  somewhat,  and  is  supposed  by  some 
to  give  a  richer  color  to  the  butter,  while  for  sheep  and 
lambs  it  is  also  a  valuable  article  of  food. 

632.  The  cultivation  of  the  carrot  is  generally  more 
expensive  than  that  of  most  otlier  root  crops.  It  requires 
much  slow  and  toilsome  hand  labor,  unless  great  care  be 
taken  to  avoid  sowing  the  seeds  of  weeds  with  the  manure. 
But  on  clean  land,  and  with  the  use  of  concentrated 
manures  like  ashes,  plaster,  guano  or  old  and  well 
decomposed  compost,  the  cost  of  the  crop  need  not  be 
much  greater  than  that  of  other  roots. 

633.  There  are  several  varieties  of  this  root,  all  of 
which  probably  came  from  the  common  wild  carrot  of 
Europe,  the  Daucus  carota.     The  most  valuable  for  field 


184  ESCULENT   ROOTS. 

culture  are  the  short  horn,  the  long  orange,  the  white 
Belgian,  and  the  altringham.  The  white  Belgian  will  give 
the  heaviest  yield,  on  the  whole,  but  the  long  orange  sells 
better  and  is  somewhat  more  nutritious.  The  white 
Belgian  is  often  of  greater  size,  but  coarser  and  of  less 
weight  in  proportion  to  its  size.  But  many  think  the 
short  horn  yields  a  more  valuable  crop  than  either. 

634.  The  carrot  grows  in  almost  any  variety  of  climate 
found  in  this  country,  but  it  is  more  especially  adapted 
to  the  northern  regions,  which  ordinarily  suffer  less  from 
drought.  Excessive  dryness  stops  its  growth  and  materi- 
ally lessens  its  product. 

635.  It  is  most  productive  on  a  deep,  light,  warm  loam, 
capable  of  retaining  a  moderate  degree  of  moisture  in 
summer,  but  with  a  dry  and  open  subsoil. 

636.  Deep  ploughing  and  subsoiling  are  especially 
important  in  the  cultivation  of  this  crop.  The  size  and 
weight  of  the  root  depend  very  much  upon  deep  tillage. 

637.  No  manures  of  a  coarse  or  very  stimulating 
nature  should  be  used.  They  cause  a  useless  growth 
of  fibrous  roots  and  leaves  to  the  injury  of  the  main  root. 
Land  enriched  by  previous  high  culture,  where  manure 
will  be  unnecessary,  is  to  be  preferred  for  this  crop,  but 
in  any  case  only  old  and  well-rotted  manures,  or  some 
concentrated  fertilizer,  should  be  used.  These  may  be 
spread  on  the  furrow  after  deep  and  thorough  ploughing, 
and  harrowed  in  when  the  land  is  ready  for  the  seed. 

638.  The  seed  should  be  new  and  fresh.  When  two 
years  old  it  will  often  fail  to  germinate.  As  it  does  not 
start  till  after  it  has  been  exposed  to  moisture  for  some 
time,  it  is  often  soaked  for  eight  hours  or  more,  and  then 
spread  out  quite  thickly  on  the  floor,  where  it  is  left  till 
it  begins  to  germinate.     This  will  generally  be  in  six  or 


TIME  OF   SOWING.— THINNING.  185 

eight  days.  It  should  then  be  immediately  rolled  in 
plaster  and  sown  by  the  seed  sower,  in  drills  from  fourteen 
to  eighteen  inches  apart. 

639.  If  the  seed  is  new  and  good,  two  or  three  pounds 
to  the  acre  are  quite  enough  to  plant.  If  its  quality  is 
unknown,  four  or  five  pounds  may  be  used  and  the  plant 
thinned  out  while  growing.  The  covering  should  be  but 
slight,  not  more  than  half  an  inch  in  depth. 

640.  The  ground  should  be  fully  prepared  in  the 
previous  autumn,  and  the  seed  put  in  as  soon  after  the 
15th  of  April  as  possible.  The  plant  does  better  if  started 
while  the  ground  is  still  quite  moist,  since  it  is  very  slow 
in  its  early  growth. 

641.  When  the  plants  are  well  up  so  as  to  be  distinctly 
seen,  they  should  be  hoed  and  weeded.  It  is  much  easier 
to  keep  the  weeds  down  at  the  outset,  than  to  get  them 
out  after  they  have  overrun  the  crop.  The  number  of 
hoeings  will  depend  much  upon  the  character  of  the  soil 
and  the  previous  culture.  If  the  land  is  foul  or  very 
weedy,  it  will  require  constant  and  repeated  labor,  at  an 
expense  greater  in  some  cases  than  the  value  of  the  crop 
itself. 

642.  At  the  second  hoeing,  or  when  the  plants  are  two 
or  three  inches  high,  they  may  be  thinned  out  if  they 
require  it,  but  a  greater  weight  per  acre  may  be  obtained 
without  much  thinning,  and  the  smaller  roots,  though 
they  do  not  look  quite  so  well,  and  will  not  sell  for  so 
high  a  price,  perhaps,  are  better  for  stock  than  very  large 
ones  grown  four  or  six  inches  apart. 

643.  Carrots  may  be  allowed  to  stand  till  the  early  part 
of  November  without  injury  from  frost.  They  may  be 
raised  from  the  earth  by  the  plough  or  the  fork,  and  stored 
for  winter  use,  the  tops  being  fed  to  stock. 


186  ESCULENT  ROOTS. 

644.  The  Parsnip.  The  parsnip  is  another  plant  which 
has  been  made  valuable  by  culture,  the  original  wild 
parsnip  being  altogether  worthless.  It  is  cultivated  both 
as  a  field  and  a  garden  crop,  and  deserves  far  more  atten- 
tion than  it  now  receives  from  the  farmer. 

645.  There  is  little  doub tr  that  the  parsnip  is  more 
nutritive  than  the  carrot,  that  it  is  more  hardy,  some- 
what less  liable  to  be  injured  by  diseases  or  insects,  while 
it  is  more  easily  cultivated  and  more  productive.  It  is 
much  liked  by  all  animals,  and  is  thought  to  give  a 
richness  to  the  milk  of  cows  w^hich  no  other  root  can, 
except,  perhaps,  the  carrot.  It  is  claimed  that  its  use 
enables  the  farmers  of  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey 
to  make  butter  in  winter,  as  rich  and  high-flavored  as 
they  can  upon  the  grasses  of  June. 

646.  There  are  tw^o  varieties  of  this  plant,  both  derived 
from  the  same  source.  They  are  the  round  or  garden, 
and  the  long  field  or  large  Jersey  parsnip.  The  farmer 
will  find  the  latter  the  most  profitable. 

647.  The  parsnip  prefers  a  mild  and  moist  climate  for 
its  early  grow^th,  but  it  endures  our  severest  cold,  and 
may  remain  in  the  ground  through  the  winter  to  be  dug 
up  fresh  in  the' spring  and  used  for  feeding  stock. 

648.  It  is  most  productive  on  chalky  or  clayey  soils, 
and  sands  rich  in  mould  or  humus,  but  will  grow  well 
wherever  carrots  w^ill.  In  some  parts  of  France  carrots 
and  parsnips  are  cultivated  together. 

649.  The  parsnip  being  a  tap-rooted  plant,  the  soil 
must  be  prepared  for  it  in  the  same  manner  as  for 
carrots.  The  seed  used  should  he  of  the  growth  of  the 
preceding  year.  The  sowing  and  after  cultivation  are 
like  those  of  the  carrot. 


THE   PARSNIP.— THE   ARTICHOKE.  187 

650.  In  a  proper  climate  and  soil,  the  parsnip  yields 
more  than  the  carrot,  but  it  is,  probably,  a  more 
exhausting  crop. 

651.  The  Jerusalem  Artichoke.  The  Jerusalem  arti- 
choke is  nearly  as  nutritious  as  the  potato,  and  its  stalks 
are  almost  as  valuable  as  its  tubers.  It  has  never  been 
cultivated  to  any  great  extent  as  a  field  crop,  in  this 
country,  but  many  cultivators  of  it  in  Europe  claim  that 
it  has  many  advantages.  Among  others,  that  it  grows 
well  on  light  sands  and  tenacious  clays,  where  no  other 
root  crop  would  succeed.  They  say  it  does  not  exhaust 
the  soil,  but  may  be  grown  year  after  year  in  the  same 
place  ;  that  it  is  free  from  diseases,  and  endures  alike  the 
colds  of  winter  and  the  droughts  of  summer. 

652.  Its  cultivation  is  much  like  that  of  the  potato, 
the  land  being  prepared  and  manured  in  the  eame  way. 
The  tubers  are  planted  early  in  spring,  in  rows  or 
drills,  the  rows  being  far  enough  apart  to  allow  working 
between  them,  and  the  plants  about  nine  inches  apart  in 
the  rows. 

653.  In  countries  where  this  plant  is  cultivated  as  a 
field  crop,  the  stalks  are  either  cut  and  fed  out  green, 
beginning,  in  France,  about  the  end  of  August,  or  left 
to  be  cut  with  the  sickle,  and  stooked  and  dried  for 
winter  fodder.  After  the  stalks  are  cut  and  removed, 
the  tubers  are  taken  up  as  they  are  wanted  to  feed  out, 
or  dug  late  in  the  fall  and  stored  for  winter  use.  Most 
kinds  of  farm  stock  are  very  fond  both  of  the  stalks  and 
the  roots. 

17 


188  FORAGE  PLANTS. 


CHAPTER    XIX. 

THE      GRASSES  —  FORMATION       OF      MEADOWS      OR     UPLAND 
MOWINGS. 

654.  The  culture  of  the  natural  and  artificial  grasses 
and  other  forage  plants  arose  from  the  necessity  of 
providing  sustenance  through  the  winter,  or  inclement 
season,  for  the  domestic  animals  on  which  the  success  of 
agriculture  so  much  depends.  It  is  evident  that  this 
department  of  farming  is  of  the  highest  importance, 
especially  when  we  consider  liow  dependent  the  raising 
of  stock  must  be  upon  it. 

655.  The  grasses  may  be  classed,  for  convenience, 
under  two  general  divisions,  the  natural  and  the  artificial. 
The  natural  grasses  comprise  all  the  true  grasses,  or 
plants  with  long,  simple,  narrow  leaves,  and  a  long  sheath 
divided  to  the  base,  which  seems  to  clasp  the  stem,  or 
through  which  the  stem  seems  to  pass.  Each  leaf  has 
many  fine  veins,  or  lines  running  parallel  with  a  central 
prominent  vein  or  midrib.  The  stem  is  hollow,  with  very 
few  exceptions,  and  closed  at  the  joints. 

656.  The  artificial  grasses  are  mostly  leguminous  plants, 
with  a  few  others  which  are  cultivated  and  used  like  the 
grasses,  though  they  do  not  properly  belong  to  that  family. 
The  clovers,  lucerne,  sainfoin,  medic  and  other  similar 
plants,  are  included  among  the  artificial  grasses. 

657.  Lands  laid  down  with  the  natural  grasses  are 
designed  as  more  permanent  mowings  than  those  sown 
with  the  artificial  ones  alone.  They  are  sown  with  a 
number  of  species  of  the  true  grasses,  most  of  which  are 


NATURAL   AND    ARTIFICIAL   GRASSES.  189 

perennial,  and  are  to  be  used  as  mowing  lands  or  for 
pasturage.  The  artificial  grasses  are  more  frequently 
intended  to  occupy  the  ground  for  one  or  two  years  only 
in  the  rotation  with  other  crops,  and  are  generally  com- 
posed of  only  one  or  two  species  of  plants,  and  those 
annuals,  or  at  most  biennials. 

658.  In  this  country  it  is  common  to  sow  one  or  more 
species  of  clover  with  the  natural  grasses.  The  clover 
then  occupies  the  ground  almost  exclusively  during  the 
first  and  sometimes  the  second  year,  but  afterwards  the 
perennial  grasses  take  its  place  and  form  a  permanent  turf. 

659.  The  natural  grasses  form  a  close  turf  or  sward, 
and  when  left  uncut  to  be  fed  off  by  animals,  this  turf 
makes  what  is  called  a  pasture  or  pasturage. 

660.  There  are  certain  situations  which  must  be 
improved  as  pasturage,  if  at  all.  Such  are  steep  slopes 
on  which  cultivation  is  difficult  or  expensive,  and  where 
the  soil  would  be  washed  into  the  valleys  below,  if  broken 
up  by  the  spade  or  plough ;  also  lands  which  lie  along 
the  margins  of  streams  or  rivers  liable  to  periodical 
overflows,  by  which  growing  crops  might  be  endangered 
or  the  soil  be  w^ashed  away,  and  low  marshy  lands  which 
cannot  be  drained  so  as  to  produce  annual  crops.  In 
these  latter  situations,  however,  the  wild  grasses  frequently 
come  in  so  luxuriantly,  on  account  of  the  richness  of  the 
soil,  as  to  give  good  crops  for  hay  for  many  years  in 
succession,  Avithout  any  cultivation  whatever. 

661.  There  are  great  differences  between  the  different 
species  of  grasses.  Some  are  short  lived,  others  more 
permanent ;  some  mature  early,  others  later ;  some 
contain  much  nutriment,  others  little.  The  different 
species  require  different  kinds  of  soil  also,  and  withdraw 
from  it  different  substances  and  elements. 


190  FORAGE  PLANTS. 

662.  By  the  use  of  many  judiciously  selected  species 
together,  a  greater  weight  of  grass  and  hay  can  be 
obtained  from  an  acre  than  if  only  a  few  species  be  used. 
Probably  this  arises  from  the  fact  stated  above,  that  the 
different  species  use  different  kinds  of  nutriment.  On  a 
certain  space,  say  on  a  square  foot  of  soil,  as  many  plants 
of  a  particular  species  of  grass  will  grow  as  can  find  there 
the  kind  of  nourishment  they  need ;  no  more  of  that 
species  can  grow  there,  of  course ;  they  would  starve  as 
it  were,  but  other  plants  of  a  different  species  of  grass, 
which  require  different  substances  to  support  them,  may 
grow  on  the  same  soil,  because  the  plants  of  the  first  have 
not  consumed  any  of  the  substances  which  they  want ;  so 
as  many  plants  of  the  second  species  will  grow  there  as 
can  obtain  the  sort  of  nourishment  suited  to  them ;  a 
third  species,  and  others  needing  different  kinds  of 
nutriment  may  be  added,  and  this  may  go  on  till  the  soil 
is  crowded  as  thick  with  the  plants  as  they  can  grow. 

663.  In  selecting  a  mixture  for  mowing  or  for  pasturage, 
regard  should  be  had  to  the  modes  of  growth  and  other 
peculiarities  of  each  kind.  A  grass  well  adapted  to  cut 
for  hay,  may  be  very  unsuitable  to  form  a  pasture  turf. 
Timothy,  though  one  of  the  best  of  our  grasses  for 
mowing,  is  not  good  to  sow  for  pasturage,  as  it  cannot 
bear  the  close  cropping  of  cattle. 

664.  Among  the  grasses  which  may  most  profitably  be 
cultivated  for  mowing,  may  be  mentioned  Timothy, 
redtop,  white  bent,  orchard  grass,  perennial  rye 
grass,  June  grass,  rough  stalked  meadow  grass,  fowl 
meadow  grass,  meadow  fescue,  and  tall  fescue.*     Other 

*  The  natural  history,  culture  and  economic  value  of  the  grasses  are  fully 
stated  in  the  Treatise  on  Grasses  and  Forage  Plants,  which  those  who  desire  to 
make  themselves  more  familiar  with  the  subject  may  consult. 


GRASSES  FOR  PASTURAGE.  191 

species  might  be  mentioned  as  worthy  of  cultivation 
for  this  purpose  in  particular  localities,  or  when  the  hay 
is  to  be  applied  to  some  particular  use,  but  the  above  are 
the  most  valuable. 

665.  Among  the  species  more  particularly  fitted  to 
form  pasturage,  are  meadow  foxtail,  orchard  grass,  sweet 
scented  vernal,  June  grass,  redtop,  meadow  fescue,  and 
yellow  oat  grass. 

666.  In  selecting  the  species  to  be  sown,  the  time  of 
flowering  of  each  species  should  be  regarded.  When 
seeds  of  different  grasses  are  mixed  for  mowing  land, 
such  kinds  should  be  chosen  that  all  will  come  into  flower 
at  about  the  same  time,  otherwise  one  species  will  have 
begun  to  spoil  before  another  is  ready  for  cutting. 

667.  In  laying  down  pasture  land  on  the  contrary,  the 
object  is  quite  different.  Here  we  wish  a  constant 
succession  of  green  and  succulent  herbage  from  early 
spring  to  late  autumn.  Hence  some  species  may  be 
valuable  not  for  their  nutritive  qualities,  but  from  their 
habit  of  very  early  or  late  growth.  The  sweet  scented 
vernal,  one  of  our  earliest  grasses,  is  an  instance  of  this. 

668.  The  grasses  attain  their  utmost  luxuriance  only  in 
a  moist  and  mild  climate.  Severe  heats  and  long  pro- 
tracted droughts  check  their  growth  and  make  it  very 
difficult  to  form  a  close  sward.  Generally  speaking,  our 
grasses  suffer  much  more  from  the  droughts  of  summer 
than  the  colds  of  winter.  It  should  be  added  that  grasses 
grown  in  a  dry  climate,  or  a  dry  season,  contain  more 
nutriment  in  proportion  to  their  weight. 

669.  The  best  time  for  sowing  the  natural  grasses,  in 
the  latitude  of  the  northern  States,  is  about  the  first  of 
September,  since  they  can  then  become  strongly  rooted 
befone  the  approach  of  winter.     The  practice  of  sowing 

17* 


192  FORAGE  PLANTS. 

in  spring  with  oats  or  some  other  grain  formerly 
prevailed,  bnt  the  droughts  of  summer  very  often  killed 
out  the  young  plants,  made  tender  and  weak  by  the 
shade  of  the  grain  crop,  and  great  losses  were  the 
consequence. 

670.  To  form  a  good  seed  bed  it  is  desirable  that  the 
land  should  be  under  cultivation  and  well  manured  for 
two  or  more  hoed  crops.  It  is  then  deeply  and  thoroughly 
ploughed  and  harrowed,  so  as  to  leave  it  in  a  mellow  and 
friable  condition. 

671.  The  seeds  mixed  as  already  recommended,  may 
then  be  sown  by  hand  and  simply  rolled  in.  They  should 
not  be  covered  to  any  considerable  depth,  and  a  heavy 
harrow  will  bury  many  of  them  too  deep.  If  no  roller 
is  at  hand,  or  if  the  ground  is  so  wet  that  it  cannot  be 
used  to  advantage,  its  place  may  be  supplied  by  a  bush 
harrow. 

672.  It  has  been  found  by  experience  that  in  general 
the  grasses  do  better  when  sown  in  the  fall  by  themselves ; 
but  on  clayey,  undrained  soils,  where  fall  sowing  is 
impracticable  on  account  of  the  great  liability  to  injury 
by  being  thrown  out  by  the  frost,  it  would  be  better  to 
sow  with  wheat  or  barley  in  the  spring.  Such  lands  will 
not  be  liable  to  suffer  from  drought. 

673.  If  clover  is  to  be  sown  on  land  laid  down  to  grass 
in  September,  the  March  following  is  the  best  time. 
The  seed  may  be  strewn  on  the  last  light  snows  of  that 
month,,  and  will  vegetate  without  any  covering,  though 
if  the  land  be  sufficiently  dry  a  roller  may  be  passed  over 
the  surface  and  will  be  beneficial. 

674.  The  artificial  grasses  comprise  red,  white  and 
other  clovers,  lucerne,  sainfoin,  medic  and  some  others. 


THE   ARTIFICIAL   GRASSES.  193 

Tliey  may  be  grown   alone  or  mixed  with  the  ^  natural 
grasses. 

675.  Red  clover  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  and 
economical  of  forage  plants.  Its  long  tap-roots  loosen 
the  soil  and  let  in  the  air,  while  by  their  chemical  action 
they  fix  gases  which  enrich  the  earth  very  much.  The 
decay  of  them  in  the  ground  also  fertilizes  it,  and  the 
plant  shades  and  protects  the  surface,  and  helps  to  destroy 
many  annual  weeds. 

676.  Clover  is  what  may  be  called  a  lime  plant,  and 
the  soils  best  adapted  to  it  are  clayey  or  tenacious  loams. 
It  generally  does  well  on  good  wheat  lands.  Recent 
investigations  have  shown  that  lime  enters  largely  into  its 
composition. 

677.  White  or  Dutch  clover  is  as  common  as  the  red, 
and  often  forms  a  considerable  portion  of  the  turf  of 
pastures  of  a  moist  and  tenacious  soil.  It  is  most 
commonly  cultivated  for  pasturage,  and  many  think  it  to 
be  as  valuable  for  that  purpose  as  red  clover  is  for  hay, 
or  for  soiling  or  feeding  out  green  to  stock ;  but  cattle 
are  not  so  fond  of  it. 

678.  Neither  lucerne  nor  sainfoin  are  cultivated  in 
this  country.  The  former  has  been  found  to  be  ill- 
adapted  to  our  climate,  suffering  severely  in  the  southern 
States  from  long  contmued  droughts,  and  as  severely  in 
the  northern  from  the  low  temperature  and  the  sudden 
changes  of  winter. 


194'  PLANTS   USED   IN   THE   ARTS. 


CHAPTER    XX. 

PLANTS   USED   IN   THE   ARTS   AND   MANUFACTURES. 

679.  Plants  used  in  the  arts  are  most  commonly  divided 
into  three  classes :  1.  Oleaginous  plants,  or  those  raised 
especially  for  their  oils ;  2.  Textile  plants,  or  those  raised 
chiefly  for  their  fibre ;  and  3.  Plants  used  in  the  pro- 
cesses of  dyeing,  tanning,  and  various  manufactures. 

680.  The  only  plant  raised  to  any  extent  in  this  country 
for  its  oil  is  flax,  which  is  also  cultivated  for  its  fibre. 
The  seed  is  ground  and  the  oil  pressed  out,  leaving  what 
is  called  linseed  cake,  which  when  ground  or  broken  up 
fine  is  known  as  linseed  meal,  a  valuable  food  for  stock. 
The  oil  obtained  from  it  is  known  as  linseed  oil,  exten- 
sively used  in  mixing  paints  and  for  other  purposes,  and 
always  sells  readily  at  a  good  price. 

681.  Flax  flourishes  in  a  great  variety  of  climates,  and 
as  it  grows  very  rapidly  and  requires  but  a  short  time  to 
complete  its  growth,  may  be  cultivated  in  high  northern 
latitudes.  The  soil  on  which  it  is  sown  should  be  rather 
light,  or  at  least  not  very  stiff  and  heavy.  A  light  loam 
inclining  to  sand,  which  may  be  deeply  and  easily  tilled 
and  kept  clean  of  weeds,  is  best. 

682.  But  the  choice  of  soil  should  depend  on  the 
object  in  view.  If  flax  is  raised  principally  for  the  seed, 
it  can  hardly  be  too  rich  and  well-manured.  But  if  the 
plant  be  grown  mainly  for  fibre,  a  very  rich  soil  is  objected 
to,  as  it  makes  the  fibre  rank  and  coarse. 

683.  Old  and  well-rotted  barn  manures  may  be  used 
for   this    crop,   and    lime,   ashes,   or    other    substances 


CULTURE    OF   FLAX.  195 

abounding  in  lime,  are  good.  A  heavy  dressing  of  stable 
manures  may  also  be  ploughed  in  deeply  in  the  fall.  In 
the  cultivation  of  flax  it  is  very  important  that  the  lower 
strata  of  the  soil  should  be  in  good  condition. 

684.  If  the  soil  be  mellow  and  under  good  cultivation, 
one  ploughing  followed  by  a  thorough  harrowing  will  be 
sufficient,  but  if  it  be  stiff  and  ill  prepared,  two  plough- 
ings  at  least  will  be  necessary. 

685.  The  quantity  of  seed  to  be  sown  also  depends 
upon  the  object  in  view.  If  it  be  desired  to  raise  the 
seed,  only  two  bushels  per  acre  will  be  enough.  If  the 
fibre,  about  three  bushels  is  needed.  If  the  less  quantity 
be  used,  the  plant  will  grow  stalky  and  branch  and 
produce  much  more  seed. 

686.  But  if  the  larger  quantity  be  sown,  the  plants 
force  themselves  up  in  a  single  stem,  without  branches. 
This  gives  a  better  fibre,  as  branching  shortens  it  and 
makes  it  irregular.  A  long,  straight,  fine  and  delicate  fibre 
is  by  far  the  best,  and  it  is  found  to  be  more  profitable  to 
cultivate  the  plant  so  as  to  obtain  this,  than  to  raise  it  for 
the  seed. 

687.  The  seed  is  sown  broadcast  and  covered  with  a 
light  harrow,  then  rolled.  After  the  plants"  are  up  they 
should  be  kept  as  free  as  possible  from  weeds,  which 
should  be  pulled  up  by  hand.  If  the  flax  has  been  sown 
thick  on  land  well-cleaned  by  a  hoed  crop  the  previous 
year,  the  weeds  will  not  be  troublesome  unless  their  seeds 
have  been  sown  in  the  manure. 

688.  The  old  method  of  harvesting  flax  was  to  pull  it 
by  hand,  tie  in  small  bundles,  and  stook  it.  But  the 
processes  of  manufacture  are  now  so  far  perfected  that 
the  crop  may  be  cut  with  the  scythe  or  the  cradle.  The 
old  processes  of  water  rotting,  breaking,  swingling,  &c., 


196  PLANTS    USED   IN    THE    ARTS. 

are  now  superseded.  For  the  fibre  the  plant  is  cut  as 
soon  as  the  blossoms  begin  to  fall,  but  if  the  object  be  to 
secure  both  seed  and  fibre,  it  should  be  left  till  the  bolls 
have  turned  yellow. 

689.  When  the  flax  plant  is  cultivated  for  the  fibre, 
from  ten  to  fifteen  bushels  of  seed  may  also  be  expected 
per  acre,  depending  on  the  character  of  the  land  and  the 
thoroughness  of  culture. 

690.  Hemp,  another  textile  plant,  is  cultivated  princi- 
pally for  the  sake  of  its  fibre,  which  is  used  in  the 
manufacture  of  ropes  and  coarse  cloths.  It  belongs  to 
the  same  family  of  plants  as  the  hop  and  the  nettle. 

691.  The  soil  best  adapted  to  hemp  is  a  deep  rich 
mould  of  loam  and  vegetable  matter,  with  fine  sand  and 
clay  intermixed.  The  rich  alluvial  lands  of  Kentucky, 
Missouri,  and  other  western  States,  are  admirably  fitted 
for  it. 

692.  The  seed  is  sown  broadcast  early  in  spring,  at  the 
rate  of  from  one  and  a  half  to  two  and  a  half  bushels 
per  acre,  according  to  the  fineness  of  the  fibre  desired. 
Thick  sowing,-  as  in  the  case  of  flax,  produces  a  finer 
fibre.  When  the  blossoms  begin  to  fall  in  July  or 
August,  it  is*  cut  up  and  sorted  into  different  lengths, 
and  bound  up  into  bundles  six  or  eight  inches  in  diameter, 
and  put  into  pools  or  cisterns  of  water  for  rotting.  After 
being  sufficiently  rotted,  the  bundles  are  taken  out,  dried 
and  stacked,  till  ready  for  the  mechanical  processes  of 
breaking  and  manufacture  which  follow. 

693.  Osier  Willows.  Among  the  plants  used  in  various 
manufacturing  industries,  and  which  form  a  considerable 
item  in  the  agricultural  interest  of  the  country,  may 
be  mentioned  the  Osier  willow,  broomcorn,  and  the 
hop. 


OSIER   WILLOWS BROOMCORN.  197 

694.  Osier  willows  are  cultivated  for  the  purpose  of 
basket  making.  Among  the  varieties  most  approved  are 
those  knoAvn  as  the  Dutch  willow,  the  purple  willow,  the 
round-leaved,  and  the  long-leaved  triandrous  willow. 

695.  Willows  will  grow  in  a  great  variety  of  soils  if 
they  be  only  moist  enough  ;  but  deep,  rich,  moist  intervals 
or  low  alluvial  lands,  lying  on  the  margin  of  streams, 
especially  such  as  have  a  southern  exposure  protected 
from  liigh  winds,  are  most  suited  to  them. 

697.  The  willow  grows  well  on  moist  soils,  but  it 
should  not  be  too  wet,  and  in  many  cases  draining  the 
land  is  advisable,  so  that  it  may  be  ploughed  deeply  and 
prepared  as  if  for  corn  or  any  other  highly  cultivated 
farm  crop.     It  is  then  ready  to  receive  the  cuttings. 

697.  The  slips  or  cuttings  are  about  two  feet  long,  and 
should  be  set  perpendicularly  in  the  soil  one  foot  apart,  in 
rows  about  three  feet  apart.  They  should  be  kept  clean  of 
weeds  the  first  year  or  two,  either  with  the  hoe  or  the 
cultivator.  The  osiers  may  be  cut  for  the  first  time  in 
about  two  years  after  they  are  set,  and  may  afterwards  be 
cut  annually  early  in  the  spring. 

698.  Broomcorn  does  best  in  a  deep,  warm,  alluvial  soil, 
such  as  is  best  suited  to  Indian  corn.  The  land  should 
be  ploughed  in  the  fall,  if  sward  land,  and  cultivated  in 
spring,  or  well  harrowed  and  prepared  very  much  as 
for  Indian  corn.  The  seed  is  sown  with  a  seed  sower  as 
early  in  spring  as  practicable,  in  hills  about  two  and  a 
half  or  three  feet  apart.  It  is  hoed  and  thinned  out 
soon  after  coming  up,  six  or  eight  stalks  being  left  in 
each  hill,  and  afterwards  cultivated  between  the  rows 
once  or  twice  in  the  season. 

699.  When  the  season  is  sufficiently  long,  broomcorn  is 
allowed  to  grow  until  the  seed  is  ripe  and  hard.    It  is  then 


198  PLANTS    USED    IN    THE   ARTS. 

lopped  or  tabled  about  two  and  a  half  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  the  top  or  brush  end,  with  about  eight  inches  of  the 
stalk,  are  cut  off  and  laid  on  the  tables  to  dry.  It  is  then 
stored  on  open  scaffolds  under  cover  until  a  convenient 
time,  when  the  seed  is  scraped  from  the  brush  by  drawing 
it  through  two  steel  springs.  The  brush  is  then  bound  in 
bundles  of  about  ten  pounds  weight,  and  is  ready  for 
market.     The  seed  is  valuable  for  feeding  stock. 

700.  The  Hop  has  generally  been  considered  a  valuable 
crop,  profitable  in  localities  where  the  soil  and  exposure 
favored  its  growth.  The  most  esteemed  varieties  are  the 
golden,  the  yellow  grape,  and  the  Farnham. 

701.  The  hop  requires  a  deep  and  rich  loam,  rather 
stiff  than  light,  and  contahiing  a  large  proportion  of 
organic  or  vegetable  matter.  A  dry  porous  subsoil  is 
also  desirable.  The  quality  of  the  hop  will  depend  much 
on  the  soil.     It  does  best  in  a  moist  climate. 

702.  The  land  devoted  to  hops  should  be  richly 
manured,  and  the  use  of  large  quantities  of  well-rotted 
barnyard  compost,  bones,  Avoollen  rags  and  other  rich 
fertilizers,  cause  it  to  produce  full  crops  of  the  best  quality. 

703.  The  roots  of  this  plant  extend  very  deep  into  the 
soil,  and  the  land  should  therefore  be  very  deeply  ploughed 
and  completely  pulverized.  The  hop  is  propagated  by 
cuttings  or  layers,  sometimes  by  sowing  the  seed. 
Cuttings  which  have  been  rooted  in  the  form  of  layers, 
grow  more  rapidly  than  more  fresh  ones. 

704.  The  bines  are  supported  on  poles  set  into  the 
hills.  The  poles  should  be  from  twenty  to  twenty-five 
feet  long.  It  is  thought  by  the  best  hop  growers,  to  be  a 
great  mistake  to  use  poles  of  only  twelve  or  fifteen  feet 
in  length  as  many  do,  for  in  general,  the  yield  is  much 
less,  and  the  quality  is  not  so  good,  while  the  labor  of 


CULTURE    OF   TOBACCO.  199 

hoeing  and  picking  is  as  great  as  with  the  longer  poles. 
Indeed,  it  is  very  seldom  that  a  large  crop  of  first  rate 
hops  is  obtained  from  short  poles. 

705.  Hops  should  be  gathered  when  fully  ripe,  in 
August  or  September.  The  vines  are  cut  off  from  one 
to  three  feet  from  the  ground,  and  the  poles  pulled  up 
and  laid  over  large  boxes.  The  hops  are  then  to  be 
picked  perfectly  free  from  leaves  and  stems,  dried  in  kilns, 
and  pressed  into  bales. 

706.  Tobacco  is  sown  in  beds  made  very  rich  by 
manuring,  to  be  transplanted  in  June,  or  when  the  leaves 
are  two  or  three  inches  long.  The  soil  may  be  prepared 
by  ploughing  in  old  and  well-rotted  stable  manures, 
guano  and  other  stimulating  fertilizers. 

707.  Tobacco 
should  be  planted 
early,  that  it  may 
be  cured  while  the 
weather      is      still 

Avarm  and  dry.  It  is  only  in  this  way  that  a  fine  quality 
can  be  secured.  Constant  care  is  necessary  to  prevent 
injury  from  the  tobacco  worm,  shown  in  figure  35.  For 
this  purpose  the  plants  must  be  frequently  examined 
and  the  grubs  picked  off  by  hand  and  destroyed. 

708.  While  still  in  blossom  and  before  the  seed  has 
formed,  the  plants  should  be  topped,  about  two  and  a 
half  feet  from  the  ground,  leaving  twelve  or  sixteen 
leaves  to  the  stalk,  and  all  side  shoots  broken  off. 

709.  When  the  leaves  are  thick  and  spotted,  and  crack 
if  pressed  ])etween  the  thumb  and  finger,  they  are  ready 
for  gathering.  The  plant  is  then  cut,  left  in  tho  row  till 
the  leaves  are  wilted,  and  then  carried  to  sheds  to  be 
hung  up  to  dry  from  five  to  ten  weeks. 

18 


200  ROTATION    OF   CROPS. 


CHAPTER    XXI. 


OF   ROTATION   OF   CROPS. 


710.  By  Rotation  of  Crops  is  meant  raising  a  series  of 
different  crops  in. regular  succession.  A  farmer  turns 
up  a  lot  of  liis  pasture  land,  and  raises,  this  year,  a  crop 
of  potatoes  ;  next  year,  on  the  same  land,  a  crop  of  corn  ; 
next,  a  crop  of  rye ;  next,  clover  and  grass.  This  is  a 
common  four-fold  rotation. 

The  object  of  rotation  in  crops  is  to  make  a  field 
or  a  farm,  yield,  with  a  certain  amount  of  labor  and  of 
manure,  the  greatest  possible  amount  of  valuable  crops, 
with  as  little  exhaustion  of  the  soil  as  possible. 

The  reason  for  a  rotation  of  crops  is  that  no  two 
plants,  of  different  kinds,  require  tlie  same  substances,  in 
the  same  proportion,  for  their  nourishment.  The  grains 
and  the  grasses  may  soon  exliaust  the  supply  of  silica. 
They  should,  therefore,  not  immediately  succeed  each 
other  in  a  rotation.  They  should  be  each  followed  by  a 
crop  which  needs  less  of  silica  but  more  of  potash  or  some 
other  mineral  salts.  A  field  which  would  not  yield  a 
second  good  crop  of  wheat,  may,  even  without  manure, 
give  a  very  good  crop  of  clover,  of  turnips  or  of  carrots. 

711.  The  Important  Principles  in  the  rotation  of  crops 
are  1st,  that  though  a  soil  may  contain  all  the  mineral 
substances  necessary  for  the  nourishment  of  every  variety 
of  cultivated  plants,  there  is  oidy  a  limited  supply  of  the 
mineral  food  necessary  for  a  particular  plant ;  2d,  some 
plants,  like  the  grains,  draw  their  nourishment  from 
near  the  suifacc  ;  others,  like  carrots  and  parsnips,  draw 


PRINCIPLES    OP   ROTATION. — ORDER. — SAVING.         'Wl'^ 

much  of  it  from  a  greater  depth ;  3d,  some  plants,  tliosc, 
namely,  which  have  abundant  foliage,  draw  much  of  their 
food  from  the  atmosphere  ;  others,  like  the  grains,  depend 
more  upon  the  materials  contained  in  the  soil.  4th,  Par- 
ticular insects  live  upon  certain  kinds  of  plants,  certain 
flies,  for  example,  on  grains  and  grasses,  and  continue  to 
multiply  as  long  as  the  same  crop  occupies  the  soil  from 
year  to  year.  But  when  a  crop  intervenes  on  which  these 
insects  cannot  live,  as  beans  or  turnips,  after  wheat  or 
oats,  then  they  perish  for  want  of  proper  nourishment  for 
their  young. 

712.  The  order  in  which  crops  succeed  each  other  is 
often  of  great  importance.  Weeds  are  a  great  injury 
to  all  crops,  and  barnyard  manure  almost  always  carries 
with  it  the  seeds  of  many  pernicious  weeds.  Such 
manure  should  therefore  be  put  into  the  ground  when  a 
crop  is  to  be  cultivated,  like  corn  or  beets,  which  may  be 
kept  free  from  weeds  by  the  hoe  and  the  plough  or  culti- 
vator. When  the  weeds  have  been  destroyed  or  nearly 
destroyed,  by  a  hoed  crop,  a  crop  may  follow  of  grain  or 
clover  which  cannot  conveniently  be  weeded. 

713.  Much  may  be  saved  by  rotation.  Each  crop,  in 
succession,  may  find  in  the  soil  valuable  matters  which 
were  unnecessary  to  the  preceding  crops.  Time  may  be 
saved,  which  is  more  valuable  than  any  crop,  for  lost  time 
is  never  found  again.  We  must  ascertain  what  is  the 
best  succession  of  crops,  and  so  arrange  the  different 
crops  in  the  different  fields,  as  to  occupy  all  the  time  of 
tlie  husbandman  and  yet  not  give  him  too  much  to  do  at 
any  one  time. 

With  sufficient  forecast,  this  may  always  be  done. 
Suppose  you  can  keep  under  cultivation  twenty-eight 
acres.     You  divide  them  into  seven  equal  portions,  and, 


202 


ROTATION    OF    CROPS. 


if  your  rotation  is  one  of  five  years,  with  grass  for  two 
years,  call  your  several  fields  A,  B,  C,  D,  E,  F,  G.  A 
natural  arrangement  may  be  something  like  the  follow- 


Years. 

On  A. 

OnB. 

OnC. 

OnD. 

OnE. 

OnF. 

OnG. 

1st,    . 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

C.  T.,  B.* 

Rye. 

Clover. 

Grass. 

Grass. 

2d,     . 

Corn. 

C.,T.,B. 

Rye. 

Clover. 

Grass. 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

3cl,     . 

C.,T.,B. 

Eye. 

Clover. 

Grass. 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

4th,    . 

Rye, 

Clover. 

Grass. 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

C.,T.,B. 

5th,    . 

Clover. 

Grass. 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

C,  T.,  B.   Rye. 

6th,   . 

Grass. 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

C.,T.,B. 

Rye.         ;  Clover. 

7th,   . 

Grass. 

Potatoes. 

Corn. 

C.,T.,B. 

Rye. 

Clover.    :  Grass. 

1 

*  Carrots,  Turnips,  Beets. 

In  this  way  you  always  have  eight  acres  of  grass,  four 
of  corn,  four  of  rye,  four  of  clover,  four  of  jDotatoes,  and 
one  or  more  each  of  beets,  of  carrots,  and  of  turnips. 

714.  Or  you  may  have  a  still  longer  rotation,  intro- 
ducing, after  carrots,  parsnips,  after  beets,  cabbages,  and 
after  turnips,  pease  and  beans. 

You  may  sav^e  time  in  the  management  of  the  manure. 
This  may  be  put  in  very  abundantly  before  ploughing, 
and  also  in  the  hills  for  corn,  and  before  beets,  carrots  and 
turnips,  or  before  cabbages,  parsnips,  and  pease  and 
beans  ;  thus  being  put  in  once  or  twice  only  in  the  whole 
course.  If  mineral  as  well  as  other  manures  are  used, 
with  the  potatoes  may  be  applied  plaster,  bones  and  ashes  ; 
with  the  corn,  barn  manure  ;  with  beans,  abundant  plas- 
ter :  with  the  roots,  guano,  or  sea  manure,  common  salt, 
plaster,  bones  dissolved  in  s^ulphuric  acid,  and  ashes. 


REASONS    FOR   ROTATION.  ^Uo 

111  tlie  ciiltivation  of  these  crops,  the  ground  between 
the  rows  should  be  turned  over  and  stirred  as  often  as 
possible, — six  or  eight  times  at  least.  Tlie  ploughing 
will  then  come  in  this  order :  earliest,  for  carrots  and 
beets,  next,  for  potatoes,  next,  for  corn,  next,  for  turnips. 
The  grass-field,  for  potatoes,  may  be  turned  over  after  hay- 
harvest  ;  the  ploughing  for  parsnips  may  be  later  and  the 
seed  be  sown  in  the  autumn.  All  the  hoed  crops  should 
be  cultivated  with  the  cultivator,  the  horse  hoe  or  tlie 
horse  plough,  whenever  time  can  be  found  till  the  crops 
are  too  far  advanced  to  admit  of  it. 

Good  reasons  can  be  given  for  the  seven-years'  course 
here  recommended.  Potatoes  require  large  portions  of 
the  alkaline  salts  and  of  lime.  These  are  succeeded  by 
corn,  which  requires  more  of  silica,  together  with  alka- 
lies ;  then  come  the  roots,  which  require  lime  and  the 
alkalies,  with  a  good  deal  of  nitrogen ;  after  them  rye, 
which  calls  for  silica.  This  is  succeeded  by  clover,  wliich 
demands  a  great  deal  of  lime,  and  this,  by  the  grasses, 
which  again  demand  silica  and  the  alkalies. 

715.  All  plants  require,  but  in  different  proportions, 
carbonic  acid,  phosphoric  acid,  sulphuric  acid,  the  alka- 
lies, potasli,  soda  and  ammonia,  and  lime,  magnesia  and 
iron.  The  acids  combine  with  the  other  elements  of  fer- 
tility, and,  while  the  corn  is  growing,  they  are  preparing, 
from  the  particles  in  the  soil,  carbonates,  phosphates  and 
sulphates  of  potash,  soda,  ammonia,  lime,  magnesia  and 
iron,  for  the  other  crops,  and  new  supplies  of  silica  for  the 
grasses. 

The  substances  most  frequently  needed  for  the  restora- 
tion of  fertility  are  ammonia,  phosphoric  acid  and  potash, 
and  the  most  valuable  manures,  next  to  barn  manure, 
are  accordingly  bones  and  ashes. 

IS* 


204  ROTATION   OF   CROPS. 

716.  On  a  field  of  clover,  gypsum  in  powder,  ashes, 
and  bones  dissolved  in  snlphuric  acid  with  one  hundred 
times  its  quantity  of  water,  always  produce  gratifying 
effects.  On  grass  land  similar  effects  are  produced  by  the 
use  of  liquid  manure  which  has  run  from  the  manure 
heap. 

A  poor  gentleman  in  Maryland,  suspecting  that  land 
which  had  been  worn  out  by  long  continued  cultivation 
of  tobacco,  might  be  restored  by  plaster,  so  as  to  produce 
wheat,  tried  the  experiment,  which  was  completely  suc- 
cessful. He  bought  many  acres  of  exhausted  tobacco 
land,  and,  by  fertilizhig  it  with  plaster,  made  himself  a 
rich  man. 

This  gentleman,  not  a  man  of  science,  was  led  to  make 
the  experiment  by  reading  Sir  Humphrey  Davy's  Chemi- 
cal Lectures. 

717.  A  Fallow.  A  field  is  said  to  be  fallow  for  a  year, 
when  no  valuable  crop  is  raised  upon  it.  Such  a  year  is 
called  a  year  of  falloAv,  and  the  field  itself  is  sometimes 
called  a  fallow. 

It  is  sometimes  well  to  let  a  field  lie  fallow.  A  field 
much  infested  with  weeds  may  be  allowed  to  lie  till  the 
weeds  are  well  grown  or  beginning  to  blossom,  when  they 
may  be  turned  under  with  a  plough.  This  is  like  giving 
a  coat  of  manure.  When  another  crop  of  weeds  has 
sprung  up,  they  may  be  ploughed  in,  and  this  may  be 
repeated  as  often  as  there  are  any  weeds  to  turn  under. 
These  green  crops  may  be  advantageously  increased  by 
harrowing  in,  after  each  ploughing  except  the  last  of  the 
season,  seed  of  some  rapidly  growing  plant,  like  buckwheat. 
After  a  year  of  such  fallow,  the  field  will  be  likely  to  be 
comparatively  free  from  weeds,  as  most  of  the  seeds  of 
weeds  will  have  sprouted  and  been  destroyed. 


WEATHERING. — FALLOWS.  205 

718.  Another  benefit  comes  from  the  fallow,  Weathering'. 
The  soil,  often  turned  np,  is  exposed  to  the  influences  of 
the  air,  and  to  sunshine,  rain,  cold,  and  wind.  From  the 
air  it  receives  oxygen,  carbonic  acid  and  ammonia,  wliich 
are  either  employed  in  rendering  soluble  the  mineral  salts 
lying  in  the  soil,  or  are  laid  up  in  the  geine  of  the  soil  for 
the  use  of  future  crops. 

These  salts  lie  concealed  in  small  stones  or  minute  par- 
ticles of  the  rocks.  In  mica  and  felspar,  for  example, 
which  are  ingredients  in  granite,  there  are  potash,  alu- 
mina, magnesia  and  iron,  as  well  as  silica,  and  sometimes 
soda  and  lime,  all  essential  elements  in  the  food  of  plants. 

719.  The  old  Greeks  and  Romans  often  allowed  their 
fields  to  lie  fallow,  and  found  them  thereby  rendered 
more  fertile ;  and  the  same  is  done,  for  the  same  reason, 
by  many  nations  in  the  South  of  Europe.  But  the  intro- 
duction of  Indian  corn,  potatoes  and  other  roots,  has 
rendered  it  less  necessary,  and  where  land  is  very  valu- 
able, fallows  a.re  generally  discontinued,  the  benefits  of 
weathering  being  secured  by  deep  ploughing  and  by  fre- 
quent tillage  between  the  rows  of  the  standing  crops. 

The  same  rotation  is  not  suited  equally  to  every  kind 
of  soil.  Oil  the  sandy  soils  of  Xew  England,  abundant  in 
silica,  Indian  corn,  rye  and  the  grasses  naturally  occupy 
more  space  than  they  would  in  a  soil  rich  in  lime.  In 
such  a  soil  as  the  last,  wheat  might  take  the  place  of  rye 
and  of  Indian  corn. 

720.  The  farmer  must  find  out,  from  the  experience  of 
others  or  from  his  own  observation,  what  course  is  best 
for  the  particular  soil  he  cultivates,  and  the  particular 
object  he  has  in  view. 

One  may  choose  to  keep  sheep,  another,  only  cattle 
for  the  market,  another,  cows  for  the  dairy.     A  farmer 


206  ROTATIOxN    OF    CROPS. 

living  near  a  large  market  would  pursue  a  course  very 
different  from  one  at  a  great  distance.  He  would  natu- 
rally make  his  farm  resemble  a  large  market  garden. 

721.  Other  Rotations.  Usually  a  field  laid  down  to 
grass  may  be  profitably  kept  for  mowing  for  several  years. 
This  being  understood,  and  also  that  grass  seed  may  often 
be  conveniently  sown  with  clover,  either  of  the  following 
may  be  an  advantageous  course  : — 

1. — 1,  corn  ;  2,  beets  ;  3,  rye  ;  4,  clover  ;  5,  grass. 

II. — 1,  potatoes  ;  2,  corn  ;  8,  carrots  ;  4,  cabbages  ;  5, 
beets ;  6,  clover  and  grass. 

III. — 1,  potatoes;  2,  beets ;  3,  beans  ;  4,  cabbages ;  5, 
parsnips  ;  6,  corn  ;  7,  clover. 

IV. — 1,  tomatoes  ;  2,  squashes  ;  3,  carrots  ;  4,  pease  or 
beans  ;  5,  cabbages  ;  6,  clover. 

V. — 1,  turnips  ;  2,  parsnips  ;  3,  corn  ;  4,  potatoes  ;  5, 
rye  ;  6,  clover  ;  7,  grass. 

For  a  long  course,  1,  potatoes  ;  2,  beets  ;  3,  squashes  or 
melons ;  4,  carrots ;  5,  wheat ;  6,  parsnips ;  7,  rye ;  8, 
turnips ;   9,  buckwheat ;  10,  corn  ;  11,  clover  ;  12,  grass. 

It  is  found  by  experience  that  corn  does  not  well  follow 
turnips. 

722.  The  famous  Norfolk,  (Eng.,)  rotation  is  1,  tur- 
nips ;  2,  barley  ;  3,  clover  ;  4,  wheat.  A  favorite  rotation 
in  France  is  for  the 

1st  year,  winter  wheat,  20  acres. 

2d  year,  beets,  carrots,  potatoes,  10  acres ;  poppy  or 
flax,  5  acres ;  colza,  5  acres. 

3d  year,  oats  and  spring  wheat,  10  acres ;  fall  wheat, 
5  acres  ;  turnips,  5  acres. 

4th  year,  clover  or  leguminous  vegetables,  20  acres. 

Poppies  and  colza  are  a  special  object  of  cultivation  in 
France.  From  the  seeds  of  both  oil  is  made  for  light  and 
for  culinary  use. 


THE    HAY    CROP.  207 

On  rich  clayey  soils  in  England,  a  course  which  has 
been  much  used  is  l,oats;  2,  rape,  for  oil;  3,  beans; 
4,  wheat  sown  with  clover;  5  and  6,  clover;  7,  wheat; 
8,  rape.  In  rich  loams,  1,  oats ;  2,  turnips ;  3,  wheat 
or  barley ;  4,  beans  ;  5,  wheat ;  6,  fallow  or  turnips ;  7, 
wheat  or  barley  and  grass  seeds.  But  it  must  be  remem- 
bered that  the  climate  of  England  does  not  ripen  Indian 
corn. 

723.  Rotation  of  crops  is  not  indispensable.  It  may 
be  the  best  economy,  on  the  whole,  of  manure,  of  time 
and  of  labor.  But  the  farmer  who  knows  the  precise  use 
and  value  of  the  several  mineral  and  other  manures,  may 
substitute,  for  a  rotation  of  crops,  a  rotation  of  manures, 
which  will  enable  him  to  grow,  on  the  same  field,  again 
and  again,  the  crop  which  may  be  most  profitable  for  him 
or  most  in  demand  in  his  market. 


CHAPTER     XXII. 


THE    HARVEST. 


724.  The  hay  crop  is  usually  the  first  of  the  harvest 
that  requires  attention.  Before  he  can  determine  the 
proper  time  for  mowing,  the  farmer  must  consider  for 
what  purposes  his  hay  is  to  be  used — whether  he  is  to  feed 
cows  in  milk,  horses  and  working  oxen,  or  young  stock 
with  it. 

725.  If  it  be  used  for  feeding  milch  cows,  it  should  be 
cut  earlier  than  if  it  is  intended  for  some  other  kinds 


208  THE   HARVEST. 

of  stock,  and  at  such  a  time  and  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
preserve  its  juiciness  and  leave  it  as  much  like  the  green 
grass  of  the  pasture  as  possible. 

726.  If  it  is  to  be  fed  to  cows  in  milk,  and  the  farmer 
wishes  to  get  the  greatest  quantity  of  milk,  grass  should 
be  cut  just  before  coming  mto  blossom.  It  is  then  most 
juicy,  and  will  therefore  produce  a  greater  flow  of  milk 
than  if  allowed  to  stand  longer.  If  the  object  is  to  secure 
the  best  quality  of  milk,  with  less  regard  to  quantity,  it 
may  be  cut  ui  the  blossom. 

727.  For  feeding  to  store  cattle,  the  grasses  may  be  cut 
when  in  full  blossom  ;  for  horses  at  work  and  for  fattening 
cattle,  it  is  better  just  after  it  has  passed  out  of  the 
blossom,  or  wiien  the  seed  is  said  to  be  in  the  milk. 

728.  Grasses  attain  their  full  development  at  the  time 
of  flowering,  and  then  contain  the  largest  quantity  of 
soluble  materials,  such  as  starch,  gum,  and  sugar ;  these, 
with  the  nitrogenous  compounds  wliich  are  also  most 
abundant  at  this  time,  are  of  the  highest  value  for 
supplying  nutriment  to  animals. 

729.  After  flowering,  and  as  the  seed  forms  and 
ripens,  the  starch,  sugar,  <fcc.,  are  gradually  changed 
into  woody  fibre,  which  is  nearly  insoluble  and  innutri- 
tions. 

730.  This  fact  is  well  established,  and  shows  that 
grasses  in  general  should  not  be  allowed  to  stand  after 
the  time  of  flowering.  Tliere  is,  indeed,  a  great  deal 
of  nourishment  in  tlie  ripe  seed ;  but  not  enough  to 
make  up  for  the  loss  in  the  stalk  and  leaves,  if  the 
mowing  is  put  off  till  the  seed  is  ripe.  Grasses  fully  ripe 
will  make  hay  little  better  than  straw. 

731.  Grass  is  cut  either  by  hand  with  the  common 
scythe,  or  by  the  mowing  machine,  (Fig.  36.)     With  the 


THE   MOWING   MACHINEo 


209 


former,  a  good  mower  will  go  over  an  acre  a  day.  With 
the  latter,  on  smooth  land,  two  horses  and  one  man  will 
mow  at  the  rate  of  an  acre  an  hour,  or  from  ten  to  twelve 
acres  a  day,  without  over-exertion. 


Fig.  36. 

732.  Besides  mowing  so  much  faster,  the  machine  also 
spreads  the  grass  evenly,  saving  the  labor  of  spreading 
by  hand.  It  also  enables  the  farmer  to  cut  all  his  grass 
nearer  the  proper  time,  and  he  is  not  obliged  to  let  a  part 
of  it  stand  till  it  is  too  ripe. 

733.  After  being  cut,  the  grass  should  be  frequently 
spread  and  turned,  so  as  to  dry  as  rapidly  and  as 
uniformly  as  possible.  This  may  be  done  by  hand  with  a 
common  fork,  or  by  a  machine  called  a  hay-tedder,  a 
light  revolving  cylinder  set  with  tines  and  drawn  by  one 
horse,  by  means  of  which  the  grass  may  be  constantly 
stirred  and  kept  in  motion,  and  much  time  and  labor 
may  be  saved. 

734.  When  grass  is  partially  or  wholly  cared,  it  may 
be  raked  by  hand  or  by  a  horse-rake  (Fig.  37.)     By 


210 


THE   HARVEST. 


Fi-.  37. 


i^}  Lisiiig    the    horse-rake, 

one  man  and  horse  can 
do  the  work  of  ten  men 
in  the  same  time  with- 
out it.  Hay  cut  in 
the  forenoon  should  be 
raked  before  night, 
that  it  may  not  be  ex- 
posed to  the  dews. 

735.  The  time  re- 
quired for  curing  hay 
depends  partly  on  its  ripeness  when  cut,  and  much  on 
the  state  of  the  weather.  In  good  weather,  if  machinery 
is  used,  it  may  be  cut  in  the  morning  after  the  dew  has 
risen,  and  dried  so  as  to  be  put  into  light  cocks  early  in 
the  afternoon,  or  before  the  dews  of  evening.  A  slight 
opening  to  the  sun  for  an  honr  or  two  the  next  day  should 
drv  it  enouofh  if  it  was  cut  while  in  blossom  or  before. 
736.  Grass  cured  rapidly  and  with  the  least  exposure, 
is  more  nutritious  than  that  cured  more  slowly  and  longer 
exposed  to  the  sun.  If  dried  too  much,  it  contains  more 
useless  woody  fibre  and  less  nutriment.  The  more 
succulent  and  juicy  the  hay,  the  more  it  is  relished  by 
cattle. 

737 o  After  the  grass  has  been  cut  at  the  proper  time, 
the  true  art  of  haymaking  consists  in  curing  it  just 
enough  to  make  it  fit  for  storing  away,  and  no  more. 
The  loss  of  the  nutritive  substances,  which  make  the  hay 
most  valuable,  is  then  stopped  at  the  earliest  moment. 
It  is  as  great  a  mistake  to  dry  grass  too  much,  as  to  let  it 
stand  too  long  before  cutting. 

738.  If  the  hay  has  not  been  perfectly  dried,  and  there 
is  danger  that  it  may  heat  in  the  mow,  it  is  well  to  have 


CURING   OF    CLOVER.  211 

alternate  layers  of  the  new  hay  and  straw  or  old  hay. 
In  this  way  the  heating  may  be  prevented,  and  the  straw 
or  old  hay  will  be  so  far  flavored  and  improved,  as  to  be 
relished  by  stock  of  all  kinds.  If  there  is  much  reason 
for  apprehension,  four  quarts  of  salt  to  the  ton  may  be 
sprinkled  in. 

739.  Experience  has  shown  that  hay  properly  dried  is 
not  likely  to  be  injured  by  its  own  juices  alone  ;  if  it  has 
been  exposed  to  rain,  it  should  never  be  put  into  the  mow 
until  it  has  been  thoroughly  dried. 

740.  Clover  should  be  cut  immediately  after  blossoming 
and  before  the  seed  is  formed.  It  should  be  cured  in 
such  a  manner  as  to  lose  as  little  of  its  foliage  as  possible, 
and  therefore  cannot  be  treated  exactly  as  the  natural 
grasses  are.  It  should  not  be  long  exposed  to  the  scorching 
sun,  but  after  being  wilted  and  partially  dried,  it  should 
be  forked  up  into  cocks  and  left  to  cure  in  this  position. 
The  fourth  or  fifth  day,  when  the  weather  is  fair  and 
warm,  open  and  air  it  an  hour  or  two,  and  it  will  then 
be  fit  to  cart  to  the  barn. 

741.  Clover  cured  in  this  way  without  loss  of  its  foliage, 
is  better  for  milch  cows  and  for  sheep  than  any  other  hay. 
It  may  also  be  fed  to  horses  that  are  not  hard  worked,  or 
to  young  stock,  but  it  is  most  valuable  for  cows  in  milk. 
For  other  farm  stock  it  is  worth  from  two-thirds  to  three- 
fourths  as  much  as  the  best  hay. 

742.  If  there  is  reason  to  fear  that  it  is  not  sufficiently 
cured  when  stored  away,  it  may  be  mixed  with  old 
meadow  or  swale  hay  or  straw,  putting  first  a  layer 
of  hay  or  straw,  and  then  one  of  clover.  Stored  in  this 
manner,  cattle  will  eat  both  the  hay  and  clover  very  greedily. 

743.  Lucerne  should  be  cut  as  soon  as  it  begins  to 
flower,  or.  even  earlier.      If  allowed  to  stand  later,  it 

19 


212 


THE   HARVEST. 


becomes  coarse  and  liard  with  much  woody  fibre,  and 
is  less  rehshed  by  cattle.  It  is  cured  and  used  like 
clover. 

744.  The  proper  time  to  cut  both  wheat  and  rye  is 
when  the  straw  begins  to  whiten  and  shrink  just  below 
the  head.  This  change  will  commence  a  week  or  more 
before  they  are  fully  ripe,  and  shows  that  the  grain  has 
ceased  to  receive  nourishment  from  the  roots.  If  taken 
in  before  getting  dead  ripe,  it  makes 
more  and  whiter  flour,  and  the 
waste  from  shelling  out  is  avoided. 
Wlieat  may  be  cut  with  the  sickle, 
with  the  cradle,  (Fig.  38,)  or  by 
the  reaping  machine,  very  similar  in 
appearance  to  the 
mowing  macliine. 
A  reaper  in  opera- 
tion is  shown  in 
figure  39. 

745.  All  the  grain 
crops  nlay  be  cut  in 
the  same  manner, 
but  oats  and  barley 
are  most  commonly 
mown  and  dried 
while  the  other  grains  are  more 
frequently  cradled  or  cut  with  the  machine. 

746.  Indian  corn  should  be  gathered  when  the  ears  are 
glazed,  but  not  perfectly  hard.  It  is  customary  in  many 
parts  of  New  England,  to  cut  the  tops  above  the  ears  a 
little  before  this  time,  and  when  the  stalks  are  still  rather 
green.  The  corn  is  afterwards  cut  up  near  the  ground, 
and  taken  to  the  barn  to  be  husked.     In  other  sections 


Fig.  39 

somewhat   like   hay. 


TREATMENT    OF   POTATOES.  213 

the  practice  of  cutting  up  at  the  ground  and  stooking, 
prevails.  This  is  done  after  the  kernel  has  become  glazed, 
yielding  but  little  juice  when  broken  open,  and  when  the 
leaves  have  begun  to  turn,  but  are  still  green.  This 
practice  saves  labor,  and  adds  to  the  quantity  of  fodder, 
and  preserves  its  nutritive  qualities  better. 

747.  Potatoes  should  usually  be  dug  in  October.  They 
may  be  thrown  out  by  a  furrow  of  the  common  plough, 
or  with  the  spade  or  hoe,  but  the  eight-pronged  manure 
fork  is  better  than  either.  They  are  liable  to  be  injured 
by  lying  in  the  sun  after  they  are  dug,  and  if  exposed  to 
its  direct  rays  are  apt  to  lose  their  mealiness.  But  if  kept 
in  the  shade  until  they  are  put  into  the  cellar,  they 
continue  mealy  much  longer. 

748.  If  the  tuber  of  the  potato  while  growing  is  exposed 
to  the  light  and  air  by  lying  near  or  on  the  surface,  it 
becomes  disagreeable  to  the  taste,  green  and  waxy,  and 
sometimes  even  poisonous,  and  when  cooked  will  be  found 
to  be  soggy.  The  effect  produced  on  potatoes  lying  in  the 
sun  after  digging  is  a  little  like  this,  though  much  less  in 
degree,  perhaps,  on  account  of  the  shorter  time  they  are 
exposed.  But  seed  potatoes  may  be  exposed  to  the  sun 
before  planting  with  great  benefit. 

749.  The  harvesting  of  turnips  should  be  commenced 
in  the  early  part  of  November.  The  Swede  or  ruta-baga, 
may  be  lifted  out  of  the  ground,  the  tops  cut  and  the  roots 
stored  in  a  cool,  airy  cellar.  The  tap-root  may  be  cut 
off  to  prevent  sprouting  in  the  cellar. 

750.  Carrots  may  remain  in  the  ground  till  the  late 
hard  frosts,  or  till  the  early  part  of  November.  They 
may  first  be  topped  in  the  ground  by  running  a  sharp 
hoe  or  knife,  (Fig.  40,)  along  the  rows,  and  then  may  be 
raised  with  the  common  hand-fork,  or  a  deep  furrow  may 


214  DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

be  made  by  the  plough  run- 
ning as  near  as  practicable  to 
each   row,  after  which  they 
J,.     .  may   be   easily  thrown    out. 

After  drying  sufficiently,  they 
are  ready  to  be  removed  to  the  cellar.  Parsnips  may  be 
taken  up  in  the  same  way,  or  a  part  of  the  crop  may 
be  left  in  the  ground  till  they  are  wanted  to  use,  in 
spring. 

751.  Mangolds  should  be  pulled  and  stored  with  as 
little  bruising  as  possible.  The  least  injury  will  some- 
times cause  them  to  decay.  If  properly  harvested,  this 
root  keeps  well  till  late  into  spring. 


CHAPTER    XXIII. 

DISEASES   AND   ENEMIES   OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

752.  Disease  is  the  result  of  deranged  vital  action.  It 
is  brought  about  both  by  predisposing  and  by  exciting 
causes. 

753.  Whatever  diminishes  the  natural  vigor  of  the 
plant,  but  does  not  of  itself  produce  a  specific  form  of  dis- 
ease, as  excessive  stimulation,  want  of  proper  nourishment, 
and  the  propagation  of  any  species  for  many  years  without 
mixing  with  other  varieties  of  the  same  species,  or  in 
common  language,  not  changing  the  kind  of  seed  planted, 
is  a  predisposing  cause. 

754.  An  exciting  cause  of  disease  is  one  which  acts 
suddenly   upon    the    previously   debilitated    plant,   and 


REMEDY  FOR  MILDEW.  215 

produces  such  a  change  in  its  vital  action  as  to  excite  a 
distinct  form  of  disease,  as  sudden  changes  of  temperature, 
or  of  the  electrical  condition  of  the  atmosphere,  hot  and 
damp  weather  at  unusual  periods  of  the  season ;  also, 
sometimes,  mechanical  violence. 

[Note. — Fungi  and  insects  have,  by  some,  been  con- 
sidered as  exciting  causes  of  disease,  while  others  regard 
them  as  resulting  from  previously  existing  disease.] 

755.  Among  the  diseases  in  which  parasitic  plants 
appear,  or  which  are  caused  by  parasitic  plants,  may  be 
mentioned  mildew,  blight  or  red  rust,  smut  and  ergot. 

756.  The  term  mildew,  or  7neal  dew,  is  most  properly 
applied  to  the  mould  or  fungous  growth  on  the  leaves 
of  trees  and  some  forage  plants,  in  the  shape  of  white 
mealy  patches. 

757.  But  it  is  most  commonly  applied  to  a  disease  in 
wheat  and  barley,  also  called  rust.  It  appears  in  the 
shape  of  small  spots  of  dingy  white,  oblong  in  shape, 
showing  itself  first  on  the  upper  side  of  the  leaf,  but  soon 
on  the  lower  side  and  the  stem  also.  The  white  mildew 
attacks  many  species  of  plants,  especially  roses,  peaches, 
hops,  vines,  pease,  the  maple  tree,  &c. 

758.  It  is  first  seen  as  round  white  or  yellowish  mealy 
spots,  composed  of  very  delicate  creeping  threads.  As  the 
disease  develops,  these  spots  throw  off  spores  or  cells, 
which  attach  themselves  to  other  plants  and  produce 
similar  fungi  or  spots  on  them.  There  is  no  other  change 
in  the  appearance  of  this  disease,  and  no  change  in  color. 
The  oidium  of  the  vine  is  a  kind  of  white  mildew. 

759.  The  simplest  and  most  effectual  remedy  for  this 
is  to  take  a  lump  of  stone  lime  of  two  or  three  pounds 
weight,  and  about  the  same  quantity  of  sulphur.  Pour 
hot  water  on  them,  which,  by  the  slacking  of  the  lime, 

19* 


216  DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

causes  both  to  dissolve  readily  in  water.  This  is  sufficient 
for  a  barrel  of  water,  and  when  used  may  be  filled  up 
again.  It  may  be  applied  with  a  syringe  or  sprinkling 
pot  to  the  foliage  of  affected  plants.  Sulphur  vapor  is  also 
a  certain  remedy  for  mildew  for  plants  or  vines  under  glass. 

760.  The  wheat  mildew  is  very  different  in  its  nature 
from  that  found  on  trees  or  vines,  which  may  be  called 
the  white  mildew,  though  its  effects  are  somewhat  similar. 

761.  The  white  varieties  of  Avheat  appear  to 
be  more  liable  to  the  mildew  than  the  red  or 
spring  varieties,  and  the  bald  more  than  the 
bearded.  The  most  vigorous  plants  are  most 
frequently  attacked  and  suffer  the  most,  and 
the  disease  is  more  destructive  to  plants  which 
are  headed  out  than  to  younger  ones.  Figure 
41  shows  the  appearance  of  an  ear  of  ripe  wheat 
touched  with  mildev/. 

762.  After  the  spots  of  wheat  mildew  have 
extended  over  the  whole  plant,  they  assume  a 
rusty  color,  and  throw  off  a  fine  dust  which  is 
yellowish  at  first,  but  soon    turns  brown  and 

^^^'  ^^"      rusty  by  exposure.      Hence  the  disease   often 
goes  by  the  name  of  rust. 

763.  Wheat  growing  on  low,  undrained  lands,  with  a 
peaty  or  calcareous  soil,  is  most  liable  to  be  attacked  by 
mildew,  but  this  disease  often  appears  on  sandy  soils  and 
on  the  stiffest  clays,  especially  when  a  few  days  of  damp, 
foggy  Aveather,  are  followed  by  a  hot  sunshine. 

761.  No  remedy  is  known  which  can  be  relied  on  to 
protect  against  this  mildew,  but  the  free  use  of  salt  or 
saline  manures,  soaking  the  seed  in  brine,  or  sprinkling 
the  plants  with  salt  dissolved  in  water  at  the  rate  of  half 
a  pound  to  the  gallon,  are  the  most  effectual. 


SMUT  IN  OATS. 


217 


765.  Salt  or  brine  thus  used  should  be  applied  on  a 
cloudy  day,  or  just  at  evening.  The  solution  of  salt 
acts  almost  instantaneously  where  it  touches  the  parts 
affected  with  rust. 

766.  Smut  is  a  disease  which  attacks 
Indian  corn,  wheat,  barley,  oats,  millet, 
and  some  other  kinds  of  grasses.  Where 
it  exists  the  receptacle  of  the  seed  is  filled 
by  a  dark,  sooty,  or  dusty  mass  caused  by 
an  internal  parasitic  fungus.  Smut  in  an 
ear  of  corn  is  shown  in  Fig.  42. 

767.  The  farina  or  mealy  substance  of 
the  grain  affected  by  this  disease  is  de- 
composed, and  the  whole  grain  is  often 
swollen  to  a  very  large  size. 

768.  Smut,  like  mildew,  prevails  in 
every  variety  of  soil  and  in  all  localities 
and  countries.  But  hot  and  moist  cli- 
mates are  more  favorable  to  its  develop- 
ment than  cold  and  dry  ones. 

769.  It  less  frequently  attacks  wheat 
than  corn  and  oats.  Its  presence  in  wheat 
may  be  known  by  the  blackish  color  of  the  ear,  or  before 
the  ear  has  burst  from  its  sheath,  by  yellow  spots  which 
appear  on  the  upper  leaf,  and  the  drying  up  of  the  point 
or  end  of  this  leaf.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  ap- 
pearance of  the  early  stages  of  an  attack  of  this  disease 
from  the  fact  that  it  varies  greatly  according  to  the  cir- 
cumstances ;  but  some  idea  of  it  may  be  gained  from  an 
examination  of  the  illustrations.  In  oats  the  diseased 
plants  are  of  a  paler  green,  and  generally  smaller  than 
the  rest.  An  ear  of  oats,  partly  sound,  and  partly  cov- 
ered with  smut,  is  shown  in  Fig.  43,  and  another  wholly 


Fisr.  42. 


218      DISEASES   AND  ENEISIIES   OF  GROWING   PLANTS- 


Fi-.  43. 


Fior.  44. 


Fi"r.  45. 


Fi-.  46. 


covered  with  smut  and  dried  up,  in  Fig.  44.  A 
head  of  barley,  partly  covered  with  smut,  is 
shown  in  Fig.  45,  and  an  ear  of  wheat  com- 
pletely smutted  and  dried  up  in  46. 

770.  Quicklime,  common  salt,  blue  and  white  copperas, 
and  many  similar  substances,  have  been  used  with  success 
to  prevent  smut.  A  sort  of  solution  or  pickle  is  formed 
of  one  or  more  of  these  substances,  as  lime  and  salt,  lime 
and  Glauber's  salt,  salt  and  copperas,  the  object  being  to 
make  a  compound  corrosive  enough  to  destroy  the  para- 
sitic fungus  without  destroying  the  grain.  Very  strong 
putrid  urine,  or  the  drainings  of  the  stable,  are  sometimes 
sufficient. 

771.  Before  soaking  the  seed  in  any  pickle  or  brine 
formed  of  the  above-named  substances,  it  should  be 
thoroughly  washed  and  cleansed  in  pure  water,  taking 
care  to  remove  all  floating  grains,  and  to  pour  off  the 
water  without  allowing  it  to  come  in  contact  with  other 
grain,  so  as  to  convey  the  disease  by  contagion. 


CANKER   IN   WHEAT.  219 

772.  There  is  a  disease  known  by  the  name  of  blight, 
canker,  smut-ball,  pepper-brand,  &c.,  which  is  often 
confounded  with  smut,  but  really  very  different.  It  has 
been  supposed  to  be  a  fungus  in  the  seeds  of  wheat,  by 
means  of  which  the  farina  was  replaced  by  a  whitish 
substance  which  finally  became  a  fine  powder, 
the  outside  or  skin  of  the  seed  being  untouched, 
and  giving  no  signs  of  the  presence  of  the  disease. 
Fiarure  47  shows  a  section  of  a  cankered  .grain 

^      1       ^  Fig-  4T. 

of  wheat. 

773.  But  more  recent  investigations  indicate  that  it  is 
caused  by  microscopic  animalcules  or  thread  worms,  which 
possess  the  remarkable  power  of  remaining  perfectly  dry 
and  hard  for  years,  and  then  regaining  life  and  motion 
when  moistened. 

774.  Grain  affected  by  this  disease,  becomes  a  hard 
shell  filled  with  powder,  which  is  usually  white.  This 
powder  has  no  trace  of  starch,  but  is  composed  entirely 
of  microscopic  threads,  which  are  stiff,  dry,  hard  worms. 
When  found  in  new  grain,  if  placed  in  water,  they  show 
signs  of  life  very  quickly.  If  very  old,  it  requires  many 
hours  or  even  days  to  revive  them.  Several  thousand 
of  these  worms  may  be  found  in  a  single  kernel. 

775.  When  these  diseased  grains  are  sown  with  sound, 
the  moisture  gradually  revives  the  worms.  They  break 
through  the  thin  shell  of  their  prison,  and  seek  the 
young  shoots  of  the  wheat  which  has  germinated,  are 
carried  up  by  the  growth  of  the  plant,  or,  if  the 
weather  be  wet,  by  their  own  exertions,  effect  a  lodgment 
in  the  young  kernel,  and  lay  their  eggs  there. 

776.  At  the  time  of  the  ripening  of  the  grain  the 
parent  worms  are  dead,  the  shells  of  the  innumerable 
eggs  which  have  produced  larvae  have  been  absorbed,  and 


220  DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

nothing  is  seen  on  breaking  through  the  covering  of  the 
seed,  but  what  appears  to  be  an  ahnost  impalpable  powder, 
each  grain  of  which  is  a  dry,  hard,  thread-like  larva. 

777.  Threshing  very  easily  breaks  the  thin  shells  which 
surround  this  powder,  and  it  rises  in  the  form  of  dust, 
causing  severe  smarting  in  the  eyes,  and  some  irritation 
of  the  throat  and  coughing,  as  the  animalcules  are  set  in 
motion  by  the  moisture.  No  serious  results  follow, 
however,  except  that  more  or  less  of  this  dust  attaches 
itself  to  sound  kernels,  thus  propagating  the  disease. 

778.  Where  the  seed  is  supposed  to  be  at  all  effected  in 
this  way,  it  should  be  thoroughly  washed  in  clean  water, 
several  times  renewed.  All  the  grains  that  float  should 
be  carefully  taken  out.  The  seed  may  then  be  soaked  in 
a  brine  or  pickle  much  as  follows : 

779.  For  every  two  bushels  of  seed  take  three  pounds 
of  caustic  lime  in  kimps,  and  sixteen  pounds  of  Glauber's 
salts.  Dissolve  the  latter  in  six  or  eight  quarts  of  water, 
and  whilst  they  are  dissolving,  slack  the  lime.  Put  the 
grain  into  a  tub  and  stir  well,  pouring  on  the  solution  of 
Glauber's  salt  at  the  same  time.  Now  sprinkle  in  the 
slacked  lime,  constantly  stirring  the  seed  until  the  whole 
is  covered  with  lime. 

780.  The  term  blight  is  properly  applied  to  a  withering 
or  blasting  of  the  foliage,  by  whatever  cause  produced. 
It  may  be  the  result  of  sun-stroke  or  frost, — a  plague  of 
insects  or  fungi.  It  may  be  caused  by  drought,  heat, 
cold,  over-manuring  or  insufficient  nourishment,  or  by  an 
original  want  of  vigor  in  the  seed.  Still  it  is  blight. 
The  term  is  also  often  used  in  this  country  as  including 
mildew,  rust,  and  many  other  affections  of  the  kind  to 
which  plants  are  liable. 


ERGOT   IN   RYE. 


221 


Fit?.  48. 


781.  Ergot  is  a  diseased  growth  which  is  quite 
common  in  rye  and  among  our  grasses.  It 
appears  in  the  form  of  a  hard,  brittle,  blackish 
spur,  of  a  form  represented  in  figure  30,  and 
takes  the  place  of  the  healthy  seed,  though  very 
much  larger,  being  sometimes  more  than  an  inch 
in  length.  An  ear  of  rye  attacked  by  ergot  is 
shown  in  figure  48. 

782.  Ergot  has  been  supposed  to  be  caused  by 
a  parasitic  fungus  growth  starting  from  the  ovule 
or  rudimentary  seed.  Instead  of  sugar,  albumen 
and  the  other  substances  of  which  sound  grain 
is  composed,  this  spur  or  morbid  growth  contains 
ammonia,  considerable  nitrogen,  and  an  oily  substance. 

783.  Ergot  most  frequently  prevails  on  low,  damp  soils, 
in  sheltered  situations,  but  often  on  sandy  soils,  and  some- 
times on  all  varieties  of  soil. 

784.  There  is  no  remedy  for  ergot  after  it  has  appeared, 
but  it  may  be  guarded  against,  to  some  extent,  by  thorough 
drainage  and  by  carefully  cleansing  the  seed,  and,  if 
necessary,  picking  it  out  by  hand  to  avoid  planting  any 
that  is  diseased.  If  fed  to  some  animals,  it  often  produces 
very  bad  effects. 

785.  Trees,  especially  fruit  trees,  are  often  injured  by 
pruning  or  grafting  done  unskilfully,  or  at  the  wrong 
season,  or  severe  bruises  inflicted  in  careless  ploughing 
around  them,  or  otherwise. 

786.  Fruit  trees  can  be  pruned  with  safety  at  any  time 
except  in  March  and  April.  Grafting  is  usually  done  in 
May  or  June.  Both  operations  should  be  performed 
carefully. 

787.  When  trees  have  been  severely  bruised,  or  large 
branches  have  been  broken  off  by  accident,  the  wound  or 


222  DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

broken  end  should  be  well  covered  over  with  clay  or  with 
grafting  wax.  Many  valuable  trees  might  be  saved  from 
permanent  injury  or  destruction  in  this  way. 

788.  Some  of  the  msects  most  injurious  to  vegetation 
are  cut-worms,  apple-tree  caterpillars,  canker  worms, 
apple-tree  borers,  codling-moths,  the  curculio,  the  striped 
or  cucumber-bug,  the  squash-bug,  the  onion-fly,  the  wheat 
midge,  the  chinch-bug  and  the  army  worm. 

789.  The  cut-worms  destroy  many  of  our  garden  and 
field  vegetables  by  eating  off  their  tender  stalks  at  the 
surface  of  the  ground.  They  are  the  caterpillars  of  moths 
belonging  to  the  night-flying  division,  one  of  which  is 
represented  in  figure  49,  and  the  cut-worm  in  figure  50. 


^^^P 
^i^ 


Fig.  49.  Fig.  50. 

790.  If  holes  be  made  with  an  iron  bar  or  smooth 
round  stick  near  the  roots  of  the  plant,  the  worms  will 
fall  into  them,  and  may  be  killed ;  they  may  also  be 
found  early  in  the  day  close  to  the  roots  of  the  plants 
they  have  cut  down  during  the  night. 

791.  Certain  species  of  ground-beetles,  and  ichneumon- 
flies  destroy  great  numbers  of  cut-worms,  and  similar 
caterpillars,  and  hence  are  very  useful  to  the  farmer,  and 
should  be  recognized  and  spared  on  this  account. 

792.  The  ground-beetles  are  very  active  in  their 
motions,  and  although  varying  greatly  in  size,  more  or 
less  resemble  in  their  general  outline  and  conformation, 
figure  51,  which  is  one  of  the  largest  of  its  class,  and  is 
commonly  called  the  caterpillar-hunter. 


THE  APPLE-TREE  CATERPILLAR. 


223 


793.  Icliiieumoii-flies  are  of  various  species  and  dimen- 
sions, but  they  all  have  four  wings  of  membranous 
texture,  and  the  general  appearance  of  a  wasp.  Some 
of  them  pierce  the  eggs  of  other  insects  and  deposit 
their  own  within  them ;  others  insert  them  beneath  the 
skin  of  a  living  caterpillar,  where  they  hatch  into  little 
maggots,  which  devour  its  flesh  and  soon  put  an  end  to 
its  life.  Figure  52  represents  a  species  (natural  size  and 
magnified)  which  deposits  its  eggs  in  the  body  of  the 
common  grape-vine  caterpillar.  Figure  53  shows  the 
caterpillar  after  the  maggots  of  the  ichneumon  have 
finished  eating  and,  returning  through  the  skin  of  the 
caterpillar,  have  spun  their  cocoons  upon  its  surface. 


Fig.  51.  Fig.  53. 

794.  The  apple-tree  caterpillar  may  be  giiarded 
against  by  carefully  removing  all  the  nests  as  soon 
as  perceived,  and  crushing  both  larvae  and  nests. 
If  this  practice  be  well  followed  up,  they  may  be 
eradicated  from  a  whole  neighborhood.  A  round 
brush  fixed  to  the  end  of  a  long  pole  is  the  most 
convenient  instrument  for  reaching  the  nest.  The  eggs, 
(Fig.  54,)  which  are  laid  the  previous  season,  may  be 

20 


224 


DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 


seen  iii  tlie  form  of  a  small  bracelet  or  broad 

ring  around  the  slender  twigs  when  the  leaves 

have  fallen  from    the    trees.      With    a    little 

observation  these  can  be  readily  distinguished, 

and    by  means  of   a    Hght  ladder  the    twigs 

containing  them  may  be  reached,  Avhen  they 

should  be  cut  off  and  burned.     This,  if  done 

any  time  during  the  winter,  will  save  much 

trouble  in  the  spring  after  they  have  hatched. 

795.  The    best    means  of  protecting    trees 

Fig.  54.      against    the    canker-worm,   (Fig.   55,)   is    by 

preventing  the  deposit  of  the  egg.     The  wingless  female 

(Fig.  56, 'y  lays  her    eggs    (Fig.   57,   natural    size   and 


9,^^%^ 


Fig.  55.  Fig.  56.  Fig.  57. 

magnified,)  on  the  bark  of  the  tree,  and  ascends  the  tree 
for  this  purpose  during  the  warm  days  of  winter  and 
spring.  A  coating  of  tar  on  a  strip  of  cloth  round 
the  trunk,  frequently  renewed  during  that  time,  will  often 
prevent  her  ascent ;  or  a  little  trough  may  be  put  round 
the  tree  filled  with  a  mixture  of  tar  and  oil,  enough 
oil  being  put  in  to  keep  it  in  a  liquid  state,  or  with 
the  "bitter  water"  obtained  in  the 
manufacture  of  salt,  wdiich  will 
have  the  same  effect.  This  will 
neither  freeze  nor  evaporate  read- 
ily.    The  winged  male  is  shown  in 

Fig.  58.  n  ro 

^  figure  58. 

796.  The  codling  moth,  (Fig.  59,)  produces  the  small 
whitish  worms  that  bore  holes   into  the   young  unripe 


CURCULTO . — APPLE-TREE  BORER. 


225 


♦ 


the  trees,  and 


apple  and  other  fruit,  and  cause  it  to  fall  off. 

The  windfalls  should  be  picked  up  often  and 

given  to  swine,  or  if  convenient,  the  swine 

may  be  turned  into  the  orchard  to  pick  them       Fig.  59. 

up.     The  grub  will  thus  be  prevented  from 

going  into  the  ground.     Old  cloths  may  also  be  tied  in 

the  crotches  of  the  limbs  of  fruit  trees.     The  worms  take 

refuge  in  them  and  may  be  killed. 

797.  The  curculio,  (Figs.  60  and 
61,  the  small  line  between  them 
showing  the  natural  size,)  does  much 
injury,  attackmg  the  plum  particu- 
larly. Fruit  bitten  hj  it  may  be 
distinguished  by  a  little  crescent- 
shaped  mark,  and  should  be  collected 
and  burned.  K  slieets  be  laid  under 
trees  then  be  shaken,  the  insects  will  fall  into  the  sheets 
and  may  be  put  into  hot  water.  If  chickens  in  coops  be 
kept  under  the  trees  in  summer,  they  will  destroy  immense 
numbers,  as  do  the  small  birds  also ;  toads  and  bats  too 
do  good  service  in  this  Avay. 

798.  The  apple-tree 
borer,  (Fig.  62,)  with 
its  larva,  (Fig.  63,)  is 
ruining  many  an  orchard 
where  his  presence  is  not  suspected,  and 
trees  should  frequently  be  examined  tliat  it 
may  be  discovered  as  soon  as  possible. 
The  borer  enters  the  tree  just  at  the  surface  of  the 
ground,  and  by  removing  the  soil  and  rubbing  the  Ijark 
with  a  coarse  cloth  after  the  first  of  September,  the 
young  insect  may  easily  be  destroyed. 


226  DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 

799.  The  eggs  are  hatched  in  July,  so  that  the  larvae 
will  have  attained  considerable  size,  and  may  easily  be 
seen  and  dislodged  without  difficulty.  Even  later  than 
this,  careful  examination  will  show  that  they  are  still 
near  the  surface,  and  may  be  reached  by  a  slender  piece 
of  whalebone  or  wire,  run  into  the  new-made  hole. 

800.  The  chisel  and  the  hammer  must  be  used  only 
when  all  other  means  fail.  Washing  with  whale-oil  soap 
will  prevent  the  laying  of  the  eggs,  but  it  will  not  do  to 
rely  on  this  alone.  If  unmolested  when  still  quite 
young,  the  borer  continues  his  depredations  from  year  to 
year. 

801.  The  striped  beetle,  (Fig.  64,)  attacks 
squashes,  cucumbers,  melons,  and  other  jjlants. 
To  prevent  injury  from  it,  the  plants  should  be 
*'■  '  sprinkled  as  soon  as  they  are  iip,  with  plaster 
of  Paris  or  slacked  lime  put  on  in  the  middle  of  the  day, 
or  they  may  be  covered  over  with  coarse  millinet  or  lace, 
which  answers  quite  as  well.  If  squashes  or  cucumbers 
are  not  planted  till  the  10th  of  June,  they  will  usually 
escape  the  attacks  of  this  insect. 

\      /  802.  Squash  bugs,   (Fig.   ^b^   may   be 

\\f/         destroyed  by  placing  shingles  on  the  ground 

MB"  round  the  vines,  and  killing  the  bugs  which 

^ aAKb\  ^   will  be  found  in  the  morning  collected  on 

r  ^S   I       the  under  side  of  them. 

y  \  803.    The    onion    maggot    pierces    the 

Fig.  65.         centre  of  the  onion  and  kills  it,  the  egg 

from   which    the   maggot  proceeds    being 

A    ^J^^    laid  near  the  root  by  the  onion  fly,  (Fig. 

W     ^^^"^    66.)     The  pupa  of  this  insect  is  shown  in 

Fi   67  Fi    66      figure  67.     The  use  of  soot  in  the  drills  is 

the  best  preventive  known. 


WHEAT   MIDGE. — LOCUST   BORER. 


227 


Fig.  68. 


804.  The  wheat  midge,  (Fig.  68, 
magnified,  the  small  mark  at  the 
left  shows  the  natural  size,)  is  itself 
exposed  to  the  attacks  of  other 
insects.  An  ichneumon  fly  deposits 
its  eggs  in  the  larvge  of  the  midge, 
and  the  larvae  hatched  from  them 
prey  upon  the  body  on  which  they 
find  themselves.  Many  are  thus 
destroyed.  If  the  stubble  be  col- 
lected and  burned,  innumerable  grubs  of  the  midge  will 
be  consumed,  and  the  good  work  of  the  ichneumon  be 
aided. 

805.  The  dor  bug,  as  it  is  called,  (Fig. 
69,)  is  properly  a  beetle,  and  the  parent  of 
those  large  white  grubs  which  feed  upon 
the  roots  of  grass  and  grain,  and  are  so 
frequently  turned  iip  by  tiie  spade  or 
plough.  Domestic  fowls  devour  great 
numbers  of  them  in  the  latter  state,  and 
many  of  the  beetles  themselves  are  eaten 
by  skunks  and  weasels. 

806.  The  potato  beetle,  (Fig.  70,)  has  of  late  years 
become  one  of  the  greatest  pests  of  the  farmer.  There 
are  at  least  two  broods  in  a  year  and  some- 
times three,  the  last  one  wintering  over  in 
the  beetle  state,  under  the  ground.  The  bee- 
tle issues  from  the  ground  about  the  last  of 
May  or  the  first  of  June.  The  females  deposit 
a  thousand  or  more  eggs.  The  larvse  are  very  vora- 
cious, and  do  great  damage  to  the  leaves  of  the  potato 
vine,  the  only  remedy  being  the  application  of  paris 
green  or  picking  by  hand.     Paris  green  should  be  used 


Fi-.  69. 


Fiof.  70. 


228      DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GEOWING  PLANTS. 

only  where  hand-picking  is  impracticable,  and  then 
with  the  greatest  care,  as  it  is  a  very  violent  poison. 
The  best  way  to  apply  it  is  in  mixture  with  plaster  of 
paris  at  the  rate  of  one  pound  of  the  former  to  twenty 
of  the  latter.    Mix  on  a  large  paper. 

807.  Figure   71,   the   rose-bug   as  it   is   very 

^<Mj    generally  but  improperly  called,  is   a  beetle  be- 

jfKS.  longing  to  the  chafer  family,  and  is  very  destructive 

J^4    to  flowers  and  foliage.     When  it  occurs  in  great 

numbers   upon   bushes  that  can   be  reached  by 

'^"    *    hand,  it   should   be   shaken  off  into  pans  of  hot 

water.     The  larva  lives  in  the  ground  like  the  others  of 

this  family,  and  when  turned  up  by  the  plough  is  greedily 

devoured  by  poultry. 

808.  The  common  click-beetle  or  spring-beetle  J 

\y       (Fig.  72,)  is  the  parent  of  the  wire-worm,  and 

*\A/     should  be  killed  whenever  met  with,  as  well  as 

y^B\     all  of  this  family,  which  can  be  readily  distin- 

JmjX     guished  by  their  faculty  of  springing  into  the 

^        air  when  laid  upon  their  backs,  by  means  of  a 

^^'     *     peculiar  joint  beneath  the  thorax. 

809.  The  striped  potato-beetle,  (Fig.  73,) 

is   often    found   eating    holes    through    the 

leaves,  in  both  the  perfect  stage  and  in  the 

larva,  which   is  the  filthy  slug   so  common 

and  so  injurious  in  some  seasons.     Lime  or 

p.^  ^g        ashes   sprinkled   profusely  upon  the  plants, 

will  often  destroy  them,  and  when  this  fails, 

they  can  be  shaken  into  dishes  of  boiling  water  or  salt 

and  water. 

810.  The  oak-pruner,  (Fig.  74,)  is  the  parent  of  a  white 
grub,  (Fig.  75,)  which  bores  into  the  small  branches  and 
twigs  of  the  oak  tree,  making  a  cylindrical  burrow,  and 
cutting  the  branch  nearly  through ;  after  which  it  retires 


OAK   PRUNER. — MEAL   WORM. 


229 


toward  the  end  and  changing  into  a  pupa,  (Fig.  76,) 
falls  to  the  ground  with  the  branch  which  is  torn  off  by 
the  wind,  and  remains  till  spring,  when  it  emerges  a 
perfect  beetle,  like  the  parent.  To  prevent  its  ravages, 
the  branches  found  beneath  the  trees  in  the  fall  and 
winter  should  be  collected  and  burned. 


Fig.  74. 


Fig.  7T. 


Fig.  75.  Fig.  76.  Fig.  78.  Fig.  79. 

811.  The  meal-worm,  (Fig.  77,)  which  is  found  in 
meal  chests,  is  hatched  from  eggs  deposited  by  a  common 
beetle,  (Fig.  78,)  which  can  be  attracted  in  great 
numbers  by  a  light  in  the  evening,  or  moist  meal  exposed 
to  the  air,  and  should  be  killed  wherever  found.  Figure 
79  represents  the  pupa  of  the  same. 

812.  Apple  and  pear  trees  are 
sometimes  covered  with  small  scales, 
as  in  figure  80,  which  represents 
those  of  the  apple,  natural  size  and 
magnified.  A  solution  of  potash, 
not  too  strong,  or  whale  oil  soap  suds 
applied  with  a  stiff  brush,  will  speedily 
remove  them.  These  insects  belong  to 
a  very  numerous  class  which  vary  greatly  Fig.  so. 


230 


DISEASES  AND  ENEMIES  OF  GROWING  PLANTS. 


Fig.  82. 


ill  their  appearance ;  some  are 
covered  with  a  white  flocculent 
matter  so  as  to  entirely  conceal 
their  bodies,  as  in  figure  81, 
^^'     '  and  others  are  entirely  naked, 

and  of  various  forhis.  The  application  of  strong  soap- 
suds, will  be  an  almost  infallible  remedy  for  all  these  cases. 
813.  The  chinch  or  chintz-bug,  (Fig.  82,) 
and  the  little-lined  plant-bug,  (Fig.  83,) 
are  often  very  injurious  to  green  and  tender 
plants,  of  different  kinds,  by  sucking  the 
sap  from  them.  No  effectual  remedy  has 
yet  been  discovered  for  them,  but  it  is 
recommended  to  water  the  crops  thoroughly 
so  as  to  bring  them  rapidly  forward  beyond 
the  reach  of  these  insects.  This  is  only 
practicable  upon  a  small  scale.  Wild  birds 
and  domestic  fowls  destroy  an  incredible 
amount  of  these  and  other  similar  pests 
annually,  and  we  must  take  especial  care 
of  the  former,  and  allow  no  person  to  kill  or  molest  them 
upon  our  premises,  if  we  would  have  our  crops  secured 
from  their  numerous  insect  enemies. 

814.  The  army-worm,  as  it  is 
called,  (Fig.  84,)  is  the  cater- 
pillai*  of  a  common  night-flying 
moth,  (Fig.  85,)  and  is  found  in 
meadows,  devouring  the  blades  of  grass,  and  occasionally 
in  corn  and  grain  fields.  It  has  many  enemies,  in  the 
form  of  ichneumon-flies,  and  other  parasites,  and  is  eateu 
by  many  birds.  It  is  rare  that  so  many  escape  destruction 
by  these  means  as  to  prove  seriously  dangerous  to  the 
whole  crop  in   any  place.     But  when  they  make  their 


Fis:.  83. 


Fig.  84. 


THE   ARMY   WORM.  231 

appearance  in  unusual  imm- 
bers,  they  can  be  checked 
by  digging  in  their  path  deep 
trenches,\vith  perpendicular 
sides,  into  which  they  will 
fall  and  may  be  disposed  of. 
After  they  reach  their  full  Fig.  85. 

size  they  suddenly  disappear,  and  may  be  found  an  inch 
or  two  below  the  surface  of  the  ground  in  the  shape  of  a 
mahogany-colored  pupa,  (Fig.  86.) 
After  remaining,  in  this  state  about  a 
fortnight,  they  emerge  in  the  moth  form,  ^^s-  86. 

and  may  be  killed  by  building  fires  after  dark  about  the 
fields  that  were  injured  by  them,  into  which  they  will  fly, 
or  by  suspending  on  the  trees  in  the  vicinity,  wide- 
mouthed  bottles  of  sweetened  water. 

815.  The  plant-lice  are  a  numerous  family,  and  often 
very  injurious  to  young  shoots,  by  sucking  the  sap  and 
causing  the  plant  to  wither.  They  are  found  usually  in 
clusters,  with  and  without  wings,  and  may  be  distinguished 
by  their  rounded  bodies,  slender  legs,  and  delicate  pointed 
beak,  which  is  bent  underneath  the  body  when 
not  in  use.  Figure  87  is  a  good  representation 
of  the  male  of  one  of  the  most  common  ^^s-  87. 
species.  In  some  seasons  vast  numbers  may  be  found 
collected  upon  the  heads  of  wheat,  oats,  and  other  grain 
crops,  and  by  depriving  the  fruit  of  its  requisite  amount 
of  nourishment,  they  cause  it  to  shrivel  and  ripen  pre- 
maturely.* 

*  For  tlie  most  exact  and  valuable  information  upon  Insects  Injurious  to 
Vegetation,  reference  should  be  made  to  the  superbly  illustrated  edition  of 
Dr.  Harris'  treatise  on  Insects,  just  published.  No  farmer's  librarj'is  complete 
without  it,  and  it  ought  to  be  kept  for  reference  ia  everv  school-room. 


232  MANAGEMENT  OF  FARM   STOCK. 

CHAPTER    XXIV. 

MANAGEMENT   OF   FARM    STOCK. 

816.  The  stock  of  the  farm  consists  of  horned  cattle, 
horses,  sheep,  swine  and  poultry. 

817.  Horned  cattle  are  kept  chiefly  for  their  milk,  their 
labor,  and  for  the  production  of  beef.  They  also  consume 
and  thus  make  useful  many  products  of  the  farm  which 
would  otherwise  be  lost,  and  furnish  manure  for  the 
enrichment  of  the  soil. 

818.  They  are  divided  into  certain  races,  breeds  or 
families,  distinguished  by  different  qualities  or  character- 
istics which  have  been  produced  or  developed  by  varieties 
of  climate  and  soil,  and  by  the  manner  in  which  they  have 
been  required  to  live  by  man. 

819.  There  are  five  distinct  races  or  breeds  in  this 
country,  known  as  Ayrshires,  Jerseys,  Short-horns,  Devons 
and  Herefords.  Individuals  of  other  breeds  have  been 
imported  from  time  to  time,  but  their  number  has  been  so 
small  that  they  have  had  little  effect  on  the  stock  of  the 
country. 

820.  No  one  of  these  breeds  unites,  in  a  very  high 
degree,  all  desirable  qualities.  Some  are  best  fitted  for 
giving  milk,  others  for  beef  or  labor.  Cattle  should 
therefore  be  selected  with  regard  to  the  specific  object  for 
which  they  are  wanted,  and  that  object  should  be  had  in 
view  in  their  keeping. 

821.  The  Ayrshires  take  their  name  from  the  county 
of  Ayr,  in  Scotland,  w^here  they  originated  seventy  or 
eighty  years   ago.      They   are    kept    chiefly   for    dairy 


THE  BREEDS  OF  CATTLE.  233 

purposes,  for  which  they  are  admh*ably  adapted,  on 
account  of  the  large  quantity  of  milk  they  give  in 
proportion  to  their  size  and  the  amount  of  food  consumed. 
Their  milk  is  of  good  quality,  though  not,  usually,  so  rich 
in  butter  qualities  as  that  of  the  Jerseys  or  the  Devons. 
They  are  well  adapted  both  for  beef  and  for  labor,  though 
in  these  qualities  they  are  probably  surpassed  by  the 
Devons,  or  the  Herefords. 

822.  The  Jerseys  are  celebrated  for  the  richness  of  their 
milk,  and  the  excellence  of  butter  made  from  it.  They 
came  from  the  islands  of  Jersey  and  Guernsey,  in  the 
British  Channel,  where  they  have  been  highly  valued  for 
dairy  qualities  for  many  years.  They  are  ill-adapted  for 
labor,  and  their  beef-producing  qualities  do  not  compare 
very  favorably  with  those  of  some  other  breeds,  although 
they  are  easily  fattened,  and  their  flesh  is  of  good  quality. 

823.  The  improved  Short-horns  are  large  in  size,  and,  in 
a  rich  and  fertile  section  of  country,  are  well-adapted  for 
the  production  of  beef.  They  come  to  maturity  at  an 
earlier  age  than  any  other  family  of  neat  cattle,  and 
attam  a  greater  weight. 

824.  They  first  became  known  in  the  luxuriant  valley 
of  the  river  Tees,  England,  and  first  really  celebrated  in 
the  neighborhood  of  Durham.  Hence  they  were  for  many 
years  called  Durhams  or  Teeswaters.  They  have  been 
extensively  introduced  into  this  country,  and  have  had  a 
great  influence  upon  our  stock. 

825.  The  North  Devons  are  remarkable  for  great 
uniformity  of  color  and  size,  and  are  kept  chiefly  for  beef 
and  as  working  cattle.  They  come  from  Devonshire,  in 
the  southern  part  of  England.  They  are  small,  hardy, 
and  easily  adapt  themselves  to  short  pastures.  Their  milk 
is  rich  in  quality,  but  deficient  in  quantity. 


234  MANAGEMENT   OF   FARM    STOCK. 

826.  The  Herefords,  so-called  from  the  county  of  Here- 
ford in  England,  where  they  originated,  have  nearly  the 
same  qualities  as  the  North  Devons,  but  their  size  is 
considerably  larger.  They  are  kept  mainly  for  tlieir  beef, 
"^hich  is  of  peculiar  excellence. 

827.  These  are  the  distinct  breeds.  The  common  stock 
of  the  country,  often  called  Natives,  does  not  constitute  a 
fixed  breed  or  race.  It  consists  of  a  mixture  of  most  of 
the  established  races,  and  is  extremely  variable  in  its 
qualities.  Animals  might  be  selected  as  good,  or  perhaps 
better  than  could  be  found  among  the  well-marked 
families,  and  as  working  oxen,  they  generally  excel,  but 
as  a  whole,  they  are  not  to  be  depended  upon  for  any 
uniformity  of  qualities. 

828.  Only  good  stock  should  be  kept  on  the  farm.  It 
costs  no  more  to  keep  a  good  animal  than  an  inferior  one. 
One  that  will  scarcely  pay  the  cost  of  rearing  and  feeding, 
will  require  about  as  much  care  and  food  as  another  which 
will  pay  a  large  profit. 

829o  Success  in  raising  stock  will  depend  very  much 
on  its  management  when  young.  If  it  be  not  then  well 
cared  for,  and  supplied  with  sufficient  and  proper  food, 
the  grown  animal  will  be  of  poor  quality,  whatever  the 
breed  may  be. 

830.  All  animals  require  nutriment  in  some  proportion 
to  their  live  weight,  those  which  are  still  young  and 
growing,  needing  more  in  proportion  than  those  already 
arrived  at  maturity. 

831.  A  full-grown  animal  requires  only  food  enough  to 
supply  the  daily  waste  of  the  system.  One  that  is  grow- 
ing must  have  enough  to  supply  the  daily  waste,  and  to 
meet  the  additional  demand  for  nutriment  arising  from 
its  constant  increase  in  size  and  weight. 


YOUNG   ANIMALS. — DAIRY   COWS.  235 

832.  For  these  reasons,  young  animals  slioiild  have 
greater  care,  better  shelter,  and  more  generous  feed  than 
they  commonly  do.  Yet  they  should  not  be  overfed  ;  they 
sliould  receive  enough  to  keep  them  growing  thriftily  up 
to  the  time  of  their  maturity,  and  the  necessary  quantity 
must  be  determined,  to  some  extent,  by  observation  in 
each  case,  though  general  rules  are  sometimes  laid  down, 
fixing  the  proportion  of  food  required  at  certain  ages. 

833.  Farmers  are  too  apt  to  consider  how  they  can  get 
their  cows  through  the  winter  with  the  least  possible  food, 
taking  no  care  to  prepare  them  for  the  giving  of  milk 
abundantly  in  the  spring. 

834.  In  consequence,  cows  often  come  out  in  spring 
reduced  in  flesh  and  in  blood,  and  have  hard  work  to 
make  up  their  loss  by  means  of  the  food  which  would 
otherwise  have  gone  to  the  production  of  milk. 

835.  The  less  cows  in  milk  are  exposed  to  the  colds  of 
winter,  the  better.  They  eat  less,  thrive  better,  and  give 
more  milk,  when  housed  all  the  time  during  extreme  cold 
weather.  In  stormy  weather  it  is  good  economy  to  water 
them  in  the  stall,  rather  than  turn  them  out  to  seek 
water  in  the  yard, 

836.  In  the  care  of  cattle,  reg-ularity  is  of  the  highest 
importance,  especially  in  feeding.  A  regular  system  of 
feeding,  milking  and  cleansing  the  stables,  should  be 
strictly  adhered  to. 

837.  Cows  give  a  greater  quantity  of  milk  in  winter,  if 
fed  on  moist  and  succulent  food.  If  hay,  cornstalks,  straw 
and  other  similar  substances  fed  out  to  them,  are  moistened 
with  warm  water  and  then  allowed  to  stand  a  few  hours 
in  this  condition,  they  are  rendered  more  nutritive. 

838.  When  the  object  is  to  obtain  the  greatest  quantity 
of  milk,  cows  should  have  rich,  juicy  grass  or  clover, 

21 


236  MANAGEMENT   OF   FARM    STOCK. 

brewers'  grains,  warm  mashes,  tiiriiijDs,  or  other  roots 
coiitaiEmg  a  great  deal  of  water ;  they  will  also  do  better 
for  whey,  if  at  liaiid,  and  should  have  as  much  water  as 
they  will  drink. 

839.  But  if  a  rich  milk  be  desired,  they  should  be  kept 
on  drier  food,  such  as  clover,  hay,  Indian  meal,  shorts, 
oil  cake  ground  into  meal,  and  some  roots.  Oats  and 
barley  meal  are  good,  but  are  generally  too  expensive. 

840.  When  cheese  is  to  be  made  from  the  milk,  ground 
beans,  or  pease  and  clover  with  some  oil  meal,  are  better. 
They  make  the  milk  very  rich  in  curd,  as  they  contain  a 
large  amount  of  gluten,  which  is  nearly  the  same  as  the 
curd  of  milk. 

841.  The  manner  of  milking  exerts  a  powerful  influence 
on  the  productiveness  of  the  cow.  A  slow  and  careless 
milker,  or  one  who  treats  her  harshly,  soon  dries  up  the 
best  of  cows.  The  animal  must  be  approached  gently, 
never  struck  or  abused,  and  the  operation  of  milking 
begin  gradually,  steadily  increasing  in  rapidity,  until  all 
is  drawn.  If  the  milking  is  performed  in  the  stall,  it  is  a 
good  plan  to  feed  at  the  same  time  with  roots  or  some 
other  palatable  food. 

842.  If  the  object  be  to  raise  beef,  a  close  built,  round 
and  compact  form,  with  small  bones  and  round  muscles 
should  be  sought.  Animals  thus  shaped  require  less  food 
and  fatten  more  easily,  than  those  of  heavy,  bony  frame 
and  flat  muscles. 

843.  When  fattening,  animals  should  be  kept  quiet 
and  warm,  and  fed  on  fatty  or  oily  food,  such  as  oil  meal, 
Indian  meal,  good  hay  and  turnips.  A  moderately  dark 
stall  conduces  to  quiet  and  promotes  fattening. 

844.  To  ascertain  the  results  of  feeding  under  various 
circumstances,  the  most  careful  experiments  were  made 


EXPERIMENT   IN    FEEDING.  237 

upon  sheep,  by  selecting  those  of  nearly  equal  weight, 
and  feeding  for  four  months  under  the  following  condi- 
tions. One  was  wholly  unsheltered,  another  in  an  open 
shed,  and  another  in  a  close  shed  and  in  the  dark.  The 
food  was  alike,  one  pound  of  oats  each  per  day,  and  as 
many  turnips  as  they  would  eat.  The  first  consumed 
nineteen  hundred  and  twelve  pounds  of  turnips,  the  second 
thirteen  hundred  and  ninety-four  pounds,  and  the  third 
eight  hundred  and  eighty-six  pounds,  or  less  than  half  of 
those  eaten  by  the  first.  The  first  gained  twenty-three 
and  one-half  pounds  in  weight,  the  second  twenty-seven 
and  one-half  pounds,  and  the  third  twenty-eight  and  one- 
fourth  pounds.  For  every  one  hundred  pounds  of  turnips 
eaten,  the  first  gained  in  weight  one  and  one-eighth  pounds, 
the  second  two  pounds,  and  the  third  three  and  one-six- 
teenth pounds.  The  one  confined  in  the  dark  ate  less  than 
half  as  much,  and  gained  more  than  the  unsheltered  one. 

845.  If  the  farmer  wisli  to  make  as  much  manure  as 
possible  from  a  certain  quantity  of  hay,  straw  or  turnips, 
the  stock  should  be  kept  in  a  cool  place  where  the  external 
air  is  not  entirely  excluded,  and  allowed  to  take  a  great 
deal  of  exercise.  If  fed  on  rich  food,  like  oil  or  Indian 
meal,  the  manure  of  the  animal  is  of  far  greater  value. 

846.  In  general  it  may  be  stated  that  food  which  has 
been  crushed,  ground  or  cooked,  is  more  easily  and  com- 
pletel}^  digested  by  stock,  and  furnishes  more  nourishment. 
Three  pounds  of  ground  corn  are  equal  to  about  four  of 
unground,  and  three  of  cooked  Indian  meal,  to  about  four 
of  the  same  meal  uncooked.  Meal  and  roots  are  usually 
Cooked  by  boiling. 

847.  But  where  animals  are  already  fattened,  it  is  found 
to  be  better  to  keep  them  on  dry,  hard  food  for  a  few  days 
before  sending  them  to  the  butcher,  as  the  fat  is  thus 


238  MANAGEMENT  OF   FARM   STOCK. 

made  harder,  and  the  meat  is  more  readily  salted  through, 
keeps  better,  and  shrinks  less  in  cooking. 

848.  An  animal  in  .good  condition  will  usually  lose 
from  thirty-two  to  forty  per  cent,  of  its  live  weight  in 
dressing.  If  very  fat  and  well  formed,  the  loss  will  be 
about  one-third,  or  thirty-three  per  cent.  In  a  fat  sheep, 
on  an  average,  it  will  be  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five  per 
cent. 

849.  Working  cattle  should  have  strength,  docility  and 
quickness  of  action.  Strength  lies  in  the  muscles  and 
tendons.  Docility  is  commonly  the  result  of  good  training. 
Activity  is  to  some  extent  the  result  of  breeding,  and 
certain  races,  like  the  North  Devons,  are  remarkable  for 
this  quality. 

850.  In  most  cases  oxen  are  to  be  preferred  to  horses 
for  common  farm  labor.  They  are  more  easily  raised, 
become  more  valuable  as  they  gain  in  size,  weight  and 
condition,  and  may  be  sold  for  beef  when  no  longer  fit  for 
work.  The  harness  used  for  them  is  cheap,  and  they  are 
better  adapted  to  slow  and  heavy  work,  especially  on  rough 
farms.  Horses  work  faster,  and  are  sometimes  more 
profitable  on  easily  tilled  farms. 

851.  Horses  are  classified,  according  to  the  uses  to 
which  they  are  put,  into  roadsters,  or  horses  of  general 
utility,  farm  or  draught-horses,  and  thoroughbreds  or 
racers,  used  mostly  for  sporting  purposes. 

852.  The  horse  requires  a  light  and  well-ventilated 
stable.  If  he  stand  much  in  a  dark  stall,  his  eyes  arc 
often  so  affected  as  to  be  irritated  when  lie  is  brought 
into  a  strong  light.  In  this  way  horses  are  frequently 
made  skittish  and  unsafe. 

853.  The  horse  should,  from  the  first,  be  treated  with 
great  gentleness,  often  led  about  by  the  halter  long  before 


CARE   IN   THE   STABLE.  239 

he  is  old  enough  for  the  harness,  and  made  to  feel  that 
his  master  is  his  friend.  Kind  treatment  will  do  much 
to  insure  docility,  and  greatly  enhance  the  value  of  the 
animal  for  all  practical  purposes. 

854.  Well-lighted  barns  and  stables  do  much  for  the 
general  health  and  vigor  of  the  animal  system,  and  a  full 
supply  of  pure  fresh  air  is  as  essential  as  food.  Especially 
is  this  the  case  for  horses. 

855  o  But  animals  should  not  be  exposed  to  currents  of 
air  in  the  stalls.  A  chimney-shaped  box  opening  near 
the  floor  inside,  and  carried  up  and  out  under  the  eaves, 
is  thought  to  be  a  good  mode  of  creating  an  outward 
draught  and  purifying  the  air. 

856.  The  temperature  of  stables  should  be  moderate, 
neither  very  warm  nor  very  cold.  Great  warmth  in 
them  is  unhealthy,  and  a  considerable  degree  of  cold 
makes  a  larger  quantity  of  food  necessary  to  keep  up  the 
natural  animal  heat. 

857.  All  animals  should  be  treated  with  constant  kind- 
ness. Nothing  is  so  likely  to  overcome  viciousness.  The 
horse,  especially,  is  very  sensitive,  and  if  always  gently 
handled,  will  give  his  owner  far  less  trouble,  and  will  be 
more  easily  managed  and  much  more  useful. 

858.  There  are  several  breeds  of  sheep,  the  best  bemg 
the  South  Downs  and  Cotswolds,  which  are  generally  sold 
to  the  butcher  for  mutton  or  lamb,  and  the  Merino  which 
furnishes  the  best  wool.  The  Leicester  sheep  was  very 
highly  prized  at  one  time,  and  this  breed  or  grades  which 
are  known  by  the  name  of  Leicesters,  is  thought  well  of 
still,  but  the  Cotswolds  and  the  Downs  have,  to  a  consid- 
erable extent,  taken  their  place  in  localities  where  sheep 
are  raised  for  the  butcher. 

21* 


240  MANAGEMENT   OF   FARM    STOCK. 

859.  In  the  vicinity  of  large  markets,  and  where  pastur- 
age is  expensive,  it  will  be  found  to  be  most  profitable  to 
raise  sheep  for  the  market,  only  making  wool  a  secondary 
object.  But  in  remote  and  mountainous  regions,  where 
land  is  cheap  and  not  suited  to  cultivation,  they  may  be 
profitably  kept  for  the  wool.  Many,  however,  think  that 
even  for  wool,  the  larger  breeds  may  be  equally  profitable, 
on  account  of  the  greater  weight  of  their  long  and  coarse 
wool,  which  is  well  suited  for  many  kinds  of  fabrics,  and 
commands  a  good  price  in  the  market. 

860.  Mutton  of  a  choice  quality,  usually  brings  a  higher 
price  in  the  market  than  beef,  though  it  costs  much  less 
pound  for  pound  to  produce,  and  the  offal  or  waste  is  less. 
The  objection  to  keeping  the  smaller  breeds  or  the  old 
natives,  based  on  the  expense  of  fences,  does  not  apply  so 
strongly  to  the  larger  or  mutton  breeds,  like  the  Cotswolds, 
which  are  generally  very  quiet  and  easily  kept. 

861.  One  of  the  most  important  matters  to  be  attended 
to  in  the  keeping  of  sheep,  is  their  shelter  in  winter. 
They  require  less  food,  and  do  better  when  well  protected, 
than  when  exposed.  Good  ventilation  is  also  very  impor- 
tant, hence  it  is  best  to  give  them  sheds  open  to  the  south. 

862.  To  ascertain  the  difference  in  the  cost  and  gain 
of  proper  shelter,  and  exposure  to  the  weather,  for  sheep, 
in  the  milder  climate  of  England,  twenty  were  kept  in 
the  open  field,  and  twenty  others  of  nearly  equal  weights 
were  kept  under  a  comfortable  shed.  They  were  fed 
alike  for  the  three  winter  months,  each  having  one-half 
pound  of  linseed,  cake,  one-half  pint  of  barley,  and  a  little 
hay  and  salt  per  day,  and  as  many  turnips  as  they  would 
eat.  The  sheep  in  the  field  eat  all  the  barley  and  oil  cake, 
and  about  nineteen  pounds  of  turnips  each  per  day,  as 
long  as  the  trial  lasted,  and  increased  in  all  five  hundred 


CARE   OF   SHEEP.  241 

and  twelve  pounds.  Those  under  the  shed  consumed  at 
first  as  much  food  as  the  others,  but  after  the  third  week 
they  eacli  ate  two  pounds  less  of  turnips  per  day,  and  in 
the  ninth  week  two  pounds  less  again  or  only  fifteen 
pounds  per  day.  Of  the  linseed  cake  they  also  ate  about 
one-third  less  than  the  other  lot,  and  yet  increased  in 
weight  seven  hundred  and  ninety  pounds,  or  two  hundred 
and  seventy-eight  pounds  more  than  the  others. 

863.  The  winter  feed  of  sheep  should  include  a  proper 
portion  of  green  and  succulent  food,  hi  addition  to  fine 
hay  or  early  cut  clover.  Unless  it  be  of  good  quality, 
much  of  it  is  rejected  and  wasted. 

864.  Ten  fine-woolled  or  Merino  sheep,  will  eat  about 
as  much  as  a  medium-sized  cow.  The  larger  sheep 
consume  more.  Tlie  Merinos  yield  the  best  wool,  the 
Cotswolds  the  most  wool  and  mutton,  and  the  South  Downs 
mutton  of  the  best  quality. 

865.  It  will  be  foimd  useful  to  attach  bells  to  several 
of  the  flock.  By  this  means  dogs  may  often  be  prevented 
from  attacking  them,  and  if  the  sheep  are  molested  a 
warning  is  given.     This  is  also  a  protection  against  foxes. 

SQ6.  There  are  many  breeds  of  swine,  as  the  Suffolk, 
the  Essex,  the  Berkshire,  the  Chester,  &c.,  each  of  which 
has  its  peculiar  excellence,  but  the  more  common  distinc- 
tion is  into  large  and  small  breeds.  The  choice  must 
depend  much  on  thriftiness  and  early  maturity,  or  a 
disposition  to  fatten  readily,  for  on  these  qualities  will 
depend  largely  the  profit  to  be  derived  from  keeping  them. 

867.  The  food  of  swine  may  be  a  little  sour,  without 
injury,  if  it  does  not  stand  till  a  strong  fermentation  takes 
place ;  indeed,  more  pork  will  be  obtained  when  green 
vegetables,  meal  and  potatoes,  are  boiled  and  allowed  to 


242  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

become  sour  before  feeding  them  out,  than  if  given  while 
still  sweet. 

868.  Poultry  may  be  kept  to  a  limited  extent  about  the 
farm  house,  with  a  large  profit  on  the  outlay,  if  judiciously 
managed.  The  attempts  to  keep  large  numbers  of  fowls 
together  with  an  idea  that  if  a  few  are  profitable,  a  large 
number  must  be  profitable  in  proportion,  have  generally 
failed. 

869.  To  be  of  any  profit  in  winter,  fowls  require  a 
supply  of  animal  food.  This  they  obtain  in  abundance 
in  summer  in  the  form  of  insects.  If  confined  in  close 
quarters,  they  must  also  have  access  to  mineral  food,  such 
as  oyster  shells  or  crushed  bones,  Avith  gravel  and  sand. 

870.  Of  the  many  varieties  of  fowls,  the  dorkings,  the 
game  and  tlie  black  Spanish,  may  be  considered  as  among 
the  most  useful  and  profitable.  As  a  market  fowl,  the 
dorking  is  probably  unsurpassed,  but  the  choice  of  the 
variety  is  generally  a  matter  of  individual  fancy. 


CHAPTER    XXY. 

THE     ECONOMY     OF     THE     FARM. 

871.  The  success  of  the  farmer  will  depend  more  on 
the  general  management  of  tlie  farm,  than  on  knowledge 
or  skill  in  any  one  particular  department.  It  is  evident, 
from  the  preceding  pages  that  to  make  the  greatest  profit 
he  must  have  a  greater  variety  of  knowledge,  and  more 
judgment  and  common  sense  than  are  required  in  any 


LOCATION   OF   BUILDINGS. — FENCES.  243 

merely  mechanical  employment,  and  without  constant 
thought  in  planning  and  directing,  he  will  constantly  fail 
to  attain  the  desired  result,  notwithstanding  the  most 
untiring  industry. 

872.  The  choice  of  a  location  should  be  well  considered, 
and  it  is  especially  important  whether  it  be  near  or  remote 
from  market,  since  the  particular  branch  of  farming  to 
be  followed  will  depend  a  good  deal  on  market  facilities. 
The  quality  of  the  land  should  be  taken  into  view.  The 
best  lands  will  command  the  highest  price,  other  things 
being  equal.  But  it  will  probably  be  found  to  be  better 
to  buy  good  lands,  though  the  original  cost  be  greater, 
than  to  spend  one's  time  and  energies  in  tilling  a  poor  soil 
simply  because  it  is  cheaper.  The  profit  to  be  derived  is 
far  greater  in  proportion  on  the  former,  and  the  original 
cost  is  paid  off  more  speedily  and  easily. 

87B.  The  location  of  the  buildings  requires  careful 
consideration.  How  much  time  and  strength  will  be 
wasted  every  year  if  the  buildings  be  unnecessarily  so 
placed  as  to  require  expensive  teaming  to  and  from  the 
fields,  or  the  barn  and  outbuildings  so  situated  as  to 
occasion  many  unnecessary  steps,  when  a  more  judicious 
location  would  have  avoided  all  ?  These  points  have  a 
direct  and  important  bearing  on  the  profit  to  be  derived 
from  farming. 

874.  Then  as  to  the  fences  required,  botli  along  the 
public  ways  and  along  division  lines.  What  are  the  most 
economical?  They  should  be  constructed  according  to 
the  purpose  for  which  the  land  is  to  be  used,  whether  for 
the  general  culture  of  farm  crops,  or  for  cattle  or  sheep 
husbandry.  They  can  be  built  wdien  other  and  more 
important  labors  are  not  pressing.  But  it  should  be 
remembered   that    all   useless    and    unnecessary   fences 


244  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

involve  a  positive  loss,  as  they  are  kept  up  at  a  constant 
expense,  be  it  more  or  less,  to  say  nothing  of  the  constant 
loss  of  interest  on  the  original  cost,  and  the  loss  of  the 
land  they  cover,  which  in  many  cases  is  no  small  item. 

875.  It  is  not  good  economy  to  use  old  and  worn  out  or 
otherwise  unsuitable  implements  on  the  farm,  nor  should 
shovels,  hoes,  ploughs  and  other  implements'  requiring 
strength  for  their  use,  be  heavier  than  is  necessary  to 
accomplish  the  object  desired.  Good  implements  save 
labor,  while  those  ill-suited  to  the  purpose  increase  it. 

8T6.  But  though  the  best  are,  on  the  whole,  the  cheap- 
est, even  if  the  first  cost  be  greater,  yet  it  does  not  follow 
that  they  should  be  bought  beyond  the  actual  wants  of  the 
farm.  Expensive  implements  that  are  rarely  used,  increase 
the  permanent  investment,  and  occasion  great  inconven- 
ience, by  requiring  much  space  and  care.  They  should  not 
therefore  be  accumulated  on  the  farm  merely  because 
they  are  new  and  good  in  themselves.  If  they  are  not 
wanted,  the  money  paid  for  them  is  often  worse  than  lost. 
^  "i^v^-z-  877.  Some  may  be 

^^        T' ~^    ~  .^  needed   but    a  few 

hours  in  the  course 
'Z  of  the  year,  and -yet, 
for  that  time,  may  be 
of  the  highest  im^ 
portance.  In  such 
cases,  where  the 
farm  is  not  large 
enough  to  make  it 
necessary  to  own  the 

Fiff.  88. — MowincT  Machine,  in  operation.  .        i       '       ,        , 

implements,  two  or 
more  neighbors  can  buy  and  own  them  in  common. 
The  mowing  machine,  (Fig.  88,)  the  reaper,  the  stump 


WASTES    OF   THE   FARM.  245 

puller,  the  stone  lifter  and  the  threshing  machine,  in  a 
section  of  small  farms,  may  be  obtained  in  this  way. 

878.  The  storage  and  preservation  of  implements 
require  thought  and  attention.  Exposure  to  the  weather 
will  often  rust  and  otherwise  injure  farming  tools,  while 
a  little  care  will  preserve  them.  Some  system  of  manage- 
ment should  be  adopted  for  saving  the  more  expensive 
ones  from  unnecessary  injury. 

879.  The  cost  of  a  well-arranged  tool  room  will  not 
seem  great,- when  we  consider  its  convenience,  and  the 
saving  which  may  be  effected  by  it.  "A  place  for  every 
thing  and  every  thing  in  its  place,"  is  a  maxim  nowhere 
more  important  than  on  the  farm.  On  many  farms  much 
time  is  wasted  in  searching  for  tools  left  out  of  place  and 
ill  cared  for,  which  should  be  saved. 

880.  A  mistake  not  unfrequently  made  by  farmers,  is 
that  of  undertaking  more  than  their  capital  will  warrant. 
Profit  depends  more  on  thoroughness  and  quality  of 
cultivation  than  on  the  quantity  of  land  put  under  tillage. 
If  a  man  has  a  large  capital,  can  employ  a  strong  force,  and 
has  the  capacity  and  industry  to  direct  extensive  operations, 
he  can  cultivate  a  large  farm,  perhaps,  to  a  profit.  But 
if  he  has  only  a  small  capital,  and  is  mainly  dependent  on 
his  own  labor,  he  should  limit  his  operations  accordingly. 

881.  This  error  of  undertaking  too  much,  often  occa- 
sions the  waste  of  many  things,  the  value  of  which,  in  the 
aggregate,  would  amount  to  a  good  profit  on  the  whole 
capital  invested  in  the  farm,  if  the  waste  were  avoided. 
For  want  of  means,  the  farmer  is  often  obliged  to  sell  at 
low  prices,  and  buy  at  unfavorable  times.  This,  perhaps, 
leads,  to  a  failure,  or  at  least  makes  life  uncomfortable, 
when  the  same  knowledge  and  energies  on  a  smaller  farm 
would  have  obtained  complete  success. 


246  THE  ECONOMY  OP  THE  FARM. 

882.  After  expending  time  and  labor,  both  of  which 
have  a  distinct  money  value,  in  ploughing  and  planting, 
none  can  doubt  that  it  is  good  economy,  after  the  crops 
are  well  started,  to  guard  them  carefully  against  their 
various  enemies,  and  to  give  the  additional  time  and  labor 
necessary  for  this  purpose. 

883.  After  corn  is  up,  for  instance,  it  is  worth  while  to 
protect  it  from  birds  and  insects.  So  it  is  time  well  spent 
to  examine  every  hill  once  in  every  three  or  four  days 
till  it  is  well  grown,  to  arrest  the  work  of  the  cut  worm, 
found  at  the  root  of  many  a  plant.  If  taken  in  season, 
he  can  do  little  injury.  The  plant  will  give  a  sure 
indication  of  his  presence  before  it  is  entirely  cut  off  and 
destroyed.  It  is  important  also  to  examine  the  trees  of 
the  orchard,  and  dig  out  the  borer. 

884.  Great  losses  might  be  avoided,  if  a  regular  system 
like  this  were  adopted  with  regard  to  every  crop.  If  it 
is  worth  planting,  it  is  surely  worth  the  trouble  of  pro- 
tecting. 

885.  The  wastes  of  the  farm  are  innumerable.  Mention 
has  already  been  made  of  losses  arising  from  badly  arranged 
and  ill-constructed  farm  buildings,  but  perhaps  the  want  of 
economy  and  skill  in  the  management  of  fertilizers,  is  a 
source  of  greater  loss  than  any  thing  else  upon  most  farms. 

886.  No  matter  what  particular  course  of  culture  may 
be  adopted,  it  is  only  by  the  application  of  a  sufficient 
quantity  of  fertilizers,  of  the  right  quality,  that  the  farmer 
can  keep  up  and  increase  the  fertility  of  his  land,  and 
cause  it  to  produce  more  abundant  crops  every  year 

887.  The  utmost  knowledge  and  skill  should,  therefore, 
be  directed  to  the  increase  and  preservation  of  every  thing 
that  can  be  turned  to  good  account.  Let  nothing  be 
wasted.     Draw  from  the  muck  bed,  or  from  any  retentive 


MANURES. — YOUNG   STOCK.  247 

subsoil,  a  sufficient  quantity  of  absorbents  to  mix  with 
the  materials  in  the  barn  cellar. 

888.  A  compost  may  be  formed  of  bones,  ashes,  old 
mortar,  dead  animal  matter,  loam,  scrapings  from  the  road 
side,  and  many  other  things  worth  saving,  and  if  the  run 
from  the  shik-spout  and  the  water  from  the  wash  tubs, 
could  be  directed  upon  such  a  compost,  a  large  amount 
of  valuable  manure  might  be  added  in  the  course  of  the 
year,  to  that  now  made  on  most  farms. 

889.  The  most  direct  method  of  increasing  the  fertility 
of  the  farm,  is  the  keeping  of  a  great  number  of  cattle, 
feeding  them  well,  and  supplying  a  great  deal  of  litter. 
With  an  abundance  of  grass,  the  farmer  can  keep  more 
cattle  ;  with  well  fed  cattle  he  has  more  manure,  and  with 
this  he  can  increase  his  crops.  But  it  should  be  remem- 
bered that  no  more  stock  ought  to  be  kept  than  can  be 
well  fed. 

890.  If  a  farm  is  to  be  stocked  to  its  utmost  capacity, 
green  fodder  should  be  cultivated,  and  it  will  be  found 
advantageous  to  devote  a  considerable  space  to  corn,  to  be 
cut  up  and  fed  green,  and  to  clover  and  root  crops.  If 
the  stock  are  kept  in  the  barn  or  in  small  lots  near  at 
hand,  the  manure  may  be  saved  and  increased  by  adding 
loam  and  other  materials,  while  the  outlands  may  be  kept 
in  grass  and  made  to  produce  abundant  crops  by  means 
of  liberal  top  dressings. 

891.  The  losses  arising  from  wintering  stock  poorly, 
and  from  injudicious  feeding  in  general,  are  vastly  greater 
than  most  people  suppose.  Even  where  working  and 
fattening  cattle  are  well  sheltered  and  well  fed,  young 
stock  often  have  but  little  shelter,  with  coarse  swale  hay 
or  straw  to  eat,  and  are  left  to  take  care  of  themselves. 
Young  animals  should  be  kept  growing  rapidly,  so  as  to 

22 


248  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

develop  their  muscles  and  increase  their  size.  They  come 
to  maturity  earlier,  and  yield  more  profit,  when  well 
taken  care  of.  In  their  case  bad  treatment  is  the  worst 
possible  economy.  They  must  have  nutritious  food  and 
enough  of  it,  if  any  profit  is  to  be  derived  from  them. 

892.  Among  the  wastes  of  the  farm  may  be  mentioned 
the  spaces  along  division  walls,  so  often  grown  up  with 
bushes  and  entirely  lost -to  cultivation,  givhig  an  unsightly 
appearance  to  the  lot,  and  forming  a  seed-bed  for  weeds. 
Many  a  load  of  rich  loam  might  be  taken  from  these  head- 
lands and  spread  upon  the  rest  of  the  piece,  to  great 
advantage. 

893.  Some  farmers  make  a  practice  of  throwing  the 
small  stones  on  the  stubble  lands  into  heaps  upon  the 
grass,  and  letting  them  lie  there  to  be  mown  over  year 
after  year.  In  many  cases  they  are  not  removed  till  the 
land  is  ploughed  up  again.  No  man  who  manages  in  this 
slovenly  way  deserves  to  succeed. 

894.  A  garden  should  be  found  on  every  farm  at  a 
convenient  distance  from  the  house.  This  is  too  often 
neglected,  though  ft  pays  a  greater  profit,  if  its  produce 
be  estimated  at  its  fair  market  value,  than  any  other 
portion  of  the  farm.  An  abundance  of  vegetables,  of 
various  kinds,  both  early  and  late,  does  much  to  keep 
down  the  expenses  of  the  table,  and  tends  to  promote  the 
health  of  the  family.  It  costs  little  time,  and  that  little 
in  the  form  of  odd  moments. 

895.  A  hot-bed  is  a  convenient  means  of  starting  many 
early  vegetables,  either  for  market  or  for  family  use.  It 
may  be  made  at  a  season  of  leisure,  and  costs  but  little. 

896.  The  loam  to  be  used  for  this  purpose,  should  be 
selected  and  thro^^n  into  a  heap  in  September.  The 
construction  of  a  frame  may  be  deferred  till  winter. 


HOW   TO    FORM    A    HOT-BED.  249 

897.  To  make  the  frame,  take  two-inch  stuff  and  spike 
it  to  corner  posts  or  joists,  making  the  back  side  twice  as 
high  as  the  front,  so  as  to  give  the  proper  inclination  to 
the  sashes.  The  frame  may  be  four  or  five  feet  wide,  and 
nine  or  twelve  feet  long.  If  the  back  and  front  are 
fastened  by  iron  bolts  and  screws,  the  frame  can  easily  be 
taken  to  pieces  and  laid  away  when  not  in  use. 

898.  A  bed  of  nine  feet  long  will  require  three  sashes. 
Where  the  sashes  meet,  a  piece  of  wood  three  inches  wide 
and  two  thick,  should  be  set  in  from  the  back  to  front  for 
the  sashes  to  run  upon,  and  it  may  extend  back  a  foot  or 
two  beyond  the  body  of  the  frame. 

899.  Select  a  south-east  exposure.  Dig  down  one  foot, 
making  the  hole  six  inches  larger  every  way  than  the 
frame.  Drive  down  joists  at  the  corners,  and  nail  to  their 
outsides  two-inch  plank,  letting  the  top  come  up  about  to 
the  top  of  the  ground,  the  size  of  this  structure  corres- 
ponding to  that  of  the  frame,  so  that  the  latter  will  set 
firmly  upon  it.  The  l^ed  itself  should  be  made  about  the 
middle  of  March. 

900.  For  the  heating  material,  take  coarse  fresh  manure 
from  the  horse  stables,  shake  it  up  well  and  mix  thor- 
oughly, then  put  it  evenly  into  the  bed,  beating  it  down 
with  the  fork,  but  not  treading  upon  it.  Raise  it  up  two 
feet  or  so,  the  back  part  higher  than  the  front,  and  make 
the  whole  about  six  inches  higher  than  it  is  intended  to 
have  it  stand,  to  allow  for  settling. 

901.  To  get  a  steady  and  long  heat,  alternate  layers  of 
tan  bark  and  manure  may  be  used,  or  a  mixture  of  leaves 
with  the  manure,  will  do.  Something  of  the  kind  is 
important,  to  make  the  heat  hold  out  well. 

902.  The  sashes  may  be  put  on  after  the  bed  is  formed, 
and  the  heat  will  begin  to  rise  in  two  or  three  days,  whcD 


250  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

the  sash  may  be  sliglitly  raised  to  let  the  steam  pass  off, 
and  soon  after  tlie  loam  may  be  lightly  spread  over  the 
manure  to  the  depth  of  six  or  seven  inches. 

903.  A  day  or  two  after  the  loam  has  been  added,  the 
bed  will  be  ready  for  the  seed,  Avliich  is  generally  sown  in 
drills  across  the  bed. 

904.  Sometimes  the  manure  ferments  so  rapidly  as  to 
give  out  an  amount  of  hot  steam  sufficient  to  destroy  the 
roots  of  tender  plants.  This  danger  can  be  avoided  by 
sowing  the  seed  in  small  flower  pots  set  into  the  soil  up 
to  the  rims,  which  may  be  raised  when  the  heat  is  too 
intense,  and  lowered  again  as  it  moderates. 

905.  The  same  object  may  be  effected  by  thrusting 
down  a  large  stick  in  several  places  in  the  bed,  and  with- 
drawing it,  leaving  open  holes  which  will  soon  lessen  the 
intensity  of  the  heat. 

906.  A  sharp  pointed  stick  thrust  down  into  the  manure 
and  allowed  to  remain  a  few  minutes,  will  show  well 
enough  the  degree  of  heat  there. 

907.  But  constant  watchfulness  is  required  to  secure 
such  ventilation  as  will  prevent  over-heating  and  a  feeble 
growth,  and  the  frames  should  be  open  at  proper  times 
for  this  purpose,  but  the  external  air  must  be  let  in 
cautiously,  and  only  when  it  is  not  very  cold,  or  the  plants 
will  be  injured  by  the  chill. 

908.  Cucumbers  and  similar  plants  may  be  sown  on 
pieces  of  inverted  sod  in  the  bed,  when  they  are  to  be 
started  early ;  they  can  then  be  removed  to  the  garden 
without  injury  as  soon  as  the  season  admits  of  it. 

909.  Cabbages,  cauliflowers,  melons,  tomatoes,  peppers, 
celery,  lettuce  and  many  other  plants,  may  be  started  in 
the  hot-bed,  to  be  transplanted  to  the  garden  as  soon  as 
the  season  is  far  enough  advanced. 


CULTURE   OF   FRUIT.  251 

910.  Hot-beds  heated  by  liot  water  or  steam  can  be  more 
easily  regulated,  but  the  plan  described  above  is  the 
simplest,  cheapest,  and  often  the  only  practicable  method 
on  the  farm.  Even  with  this  simple  arrangement,  how- 
ever, care  and  experience  are  necessary  to  secure  success. 

911.  The  culture  of  fruit  is  of  itself  sufficiently  attrac- 
tive to  secure  some  attention.  But  too  many  manage 
their  orchards  as  if  they  thought  it  enough  to  set  out  the 
trees,  without  bestowing  any  care  upon  them  afterwards. 
There  is  no  economy  in  buying  poor  or  even  second-rate 
trees.  Get  the  best  and  set  them  out  in  the  best  manner. 
But  one  or  two  standard  varieties  known  and  esteemed  in 
the  market,  are  far  more  profitable  than  a  great  many. 

912.  Young  fruit  trees  pay  well  for  great  care  and 
attention.  Enrich  the  land,  therefore,  and  keep  it  under 
high  cultivation  for  the  first  few  years.  After  the  trees 
have  come  into  bearing,  no  exhausting  crops  should  be 
allowed  under  them,  unless  maiuire  enough  is  used  for 
both.  It  is  not  well  to  starve  fruit  trees  for  the  sake  of  a 
less  valuable  crop.  But  some  of  the  smaller  fruits  like 
currants,  raspberries  or  blackberries,  all  of  which  admit 
of  partial  shading,  may  be  tolerated  in  apple  and  pear 
orchards. 

913.  If  trees  are  found  to  be  making  wood  too  fast  to 
bear  fruit  well  in  rich  and  highly  tilled  soil,  laying  down 
the  land  to  grass  is  generally  enough  to  check  their  too 
rapid  growth,  and  bring  them  into  a  bearing  condition. 
If  the  land  be  already  in  grass  and  a  greater  growth  is 
desired,  the  grass  may  be  spaded  up  in  a  circle  of  ten  or 
twelve  feet  from  the  tree.  The  rootlets  extend  out  in 
every  direction  as  far  as  the  ends  of  tlie  branches,  and 
often  farther.  A  foot  or  two  spaded  up  round  the  tree 
iSj  therefore,  of  very  little  service.     But  the  surface  soil 

22* 


252  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

under  fruit  trees  should  not  be  stirred  to  a  depth  of 
more  than  four  inches.  It  is  better  to  manure  on  the 
surface. 

914.  Pruning  should  begin  while  the  tree  is  young,  but 
little  being  done  at  a  time,  and  should  be  continued  when 
necessary  to  bring  the  tree  into  proper  shape.  If  a  young 
tree  is  trimmed,  the  activity  of  the  sap  soon  heals  up  the 
wound.  Not  so  an  old  tree.  The  best  time  to  prune 
fruit  trees  is  late  in  the  fall,  or  early  in  winter  before  the 
sap  has  started,  or  in  midsummer  after  it  has  thickened 
so  as  not  to  flow  rapidly.  But  pruning  may  be  done  at 
any  time  during  the  year  except  March  and  April,  when 
it  should  be  avoided  both  for  fruit  and  ornamental  trees. 

915.  Apples  and  pears  should  be  taken  from  the  tree 
before  the  ripening  process  has  advanced  far.  A  summer 
pear  fully  ripened  on  the  tree,  is  very  inferior  to  one 
ripened  in  a  cool,  dry  place  not  exposed  to  the  air.  The 
natural  process  of  ripening  on  the  tree  appears  to  benefit 
the  seed  merely,  while  woody  fibre  is  rapidly  formed  in 
the  fruit,  but  if  the  fruit  be  taken  off  and  laid  away  just 
before  beginning  to  ripen,  sugar  and  juice  are  elaborated 
instead.  Pears  otherwise  inferior  may  thus  be  made  juicy 
and  delicious. 

916.  It  is  easy  to  have  a  constant  supply  of  healthful 
fruits  through  the  season.  The  strawberry  deserves  more 
general  and  careful  attention  than  it  receives.  After  the 
crop  has  been  picked  in  June  and  July,  let  the  runners 
spread,  and  give  them  a  deep  rich  soil  to  strike  into, 
merely  thinning  out  the  weaker  ones.  In  this  way  the 
vines  are  easily  renewed  from  year  to  year. 

917.  The  raspberry  and  the  blackberry  may  stand 
under  trees,  or  along  the  sides  of  walls  or  fences.  When 
they  have  done  bearing,  the  old  fruit  stalks  should  be  cut 


SMALL   FRUITS. — ORNAMENTAL   TREES.  253 

out  and  a  few  of  the  weaker  canes  also.  Six  canes  of  the 
new  growth  to  the  square  foot  may  be  allowed  to  stand, 
and  perfect  themselyes  for  next  year's  bearing.  It  is  well 
to  lay  them  down  and  cover  them  over  with  straw  or 
earth,  as  a  winter  protection. 

918.  The  gooseberry  does  best  in  a  moist  situation, 
somewhat  shaded.  Dry  hot  weather,  if  exposed  to  the 
direct  rays  of  the  sun,  often  causes  it  to  mildew.  A  heavy 
mulching  of  salt  or  meadow  hay  around  the  roots,  is 
useful  to  it.  A  mulching  of  old  hay  or  straw  about  the 
roots  of  all  trees  and  shrubs  enriches  the  land,  and  prevents 
the  ill  effects  of  a  summer  drought. 

919.  Grapes  should  be  set  about  the  twentieth  of 
October,  if  convenient,  but  they  do  very  well  if  set  out 
in  spring.  The  best  time  to  prune  or  cut  them  in,  is  in 
the  month  of  November.  The  first  year  after  they  are 
set  out  they  may  be  allowed  to  run  at  random,  to  be  cut 
back  to  within  eighteen  inches  or  two  feet  of  the  ground 
in  November.  The  object  is  to  get  a  strong  and  healthy 
growth  of  wood  before  they  are  brought  to  bearing 
freely. 

920.  Trees  planted  for  ornamental  purposes  around  the 
house  and  along  the  road-sides,  add  not  only  to  the  beauty 
of  the  homestead  and  the  landscape,  but  to  the  real  and 
permanent  value  of  the  estate,  and  thus  pay  well  for  the 
labor  and  care  bestowed  upon  them. 

921.  The  negligence  as  to  cutting  grass  and  grain  at 
the  proper  season,  and  allowing  it  to  get  too  ripe,  is  a 
source  of  very  serious  loss  on  many  farms.  The  time 
of  cutting  wheat  and  all  the  other  grains  very  materially 
affects  the  proportion  of  flour  and  bran,  or  the  finer  and 
coarser  parts  in  the  flour  or  meal.  The  grain  is  heavier, 
sweeter  and  whiter  when  cut  ten  or  twelve  days  before 


254  THE  ECONOMY  OF  THE  FARM. 

fall  ripeness,  than  if  allowed  to  reach  perfect  maturity. 
It  also  measures  more  and  makes  more  flour. 

922.  When  the  grain  is  still  soft  or  in  the  milk,  it  con- 
tains but  little  woody  fibre.  Starch,  gluten  and  sugar,  in 
which  the  nutritive  value  consists,  are  then  most  abundant. 
As  the  ripening  process  advances,  the  woody  fibre  increases. 
The  skin  or  outer  covering  of  the  grain  rapidly  thickens, 
and  loses  its  fine  color.  It  assumes  a  dull  and  husky 
appearance  in  the  bin,  if  allowed  to  ripen  fully,  and  is 
really  worth  considerably  less  than  if  cut  at  the  proper 
season. 

923.  The  same  is  true  of  all  the  small  grains.  Oats 
especially,  the  straw  of  which  is  fed  to  stock,  should  be 
cut  while  still  green,  or  when  only  slightly  turned.  The 
early  cut  yield  as  n:^uch  and  as  plump  grain  as  those 
which  get  dead  ripe,  and  the  straw  is  far  more  valuable. 

924.  The  keeping  of  accurate  accounts  is  indispensable 
to  complete  success  in  farming.  Without  them  the  farmer 
can  never  see  just  where  he  stands,  or  whether  he  is 
making  or  losing  money  by  this  or  that  course  of  culture. 
It  is  well  to  keep  a  separate  debit  and  credit  account  for 
each  lot,  charging  it  with  all  that  is  expended  upon  it 
from  time  to  time  in  labor,  manure  and  seed,  a;nd  crediting 
it  with  the  crops  produced.  At  the  end  of  the  year  the 
balance  will  show  at  a  glance  the  gain  or  loss  for  the 
season. 

925.  And  so  let  a  separate  account  be  kept  for  each 
department,  a  stock  account,  an  account  of  household 
and  personal  expenses,  &c.  In  this  way  a  much  better 
idea  can  be  obtained  of  the  actual  state  of  our  affairs  at 
any  particular  time,  than  in  any  other. 


MANAGEMENT   OF   THE   DAIRY.  255 


CHAPTER    XXYI. 

ECONOMY   OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

926.  The  success  and  profit  of  any  farming  enterprise 
will  in  many  cases  depend  very  much  upon  the  thrifty 
and  judicious  management  of  matters  within  the  house. 
The  exercise  of  skill,  prudence  and  good  judgment  on  the 
part  of  the  farmer's  wife,  is  called  for  in  a  thousand  ways. 

927.  Take  the  dairy  as  an  example.  Costly  barns,  well- 
selected  cows  and  judicious  feeding  in  the  butter  or 
cheese  dairy  are  of  little  avail,  if  the  products  are  to  be 
depreciated  in  value  by  imperfect  modes  of  preparing 
them  for  market,  where  the  final  judgment  is  to  be  pro- 
nounced upon  them,  and  the  price  will  vary  according  to 
their  quality. 

928.  The  care  of  milk  forms  so  important  a  part  of  the 
duties  of  every  housekeeper,  and  it  enters  so  largely  into 
many  processes  of  cooking  in  every  household,  that  its 
character  and  properties  should  be  well  understood. 

929.  Milk  is  an  opaque  fluid  of  a  whitish  color  with  a 
sweet  and  agreeable  taste,  and  is  composed  chiefly  of 
caseine  or  curd,  which  gives  it  its  strength,  and  from 
which  cheese  is  made ;  an  oily  substance  which  gives  it 
richness,  and  which  is  separated  in  the  form  of  cream  and 
butter ;  a  sugar  of  milk  which  gives  it  sweetness,  and  a 
watery  substance  which  makes  it  refreshing  as  a  beverage, 
and  which  is  separated  from  the  other  constituents  in 
cheese  making,  and  known  as  whey. 

930.  The  fatty  matter  in  pure  milk  varies  from  two 
and  a  half  to  six  and  a  half  per  cent.,  the  caseous  or 


256  ECONOMY  OF  THE  HOUSEHOLD. 

cheesy  matter  from  three  to  ten  per  cent.,  and  the  serous 
matter  or  whey  from  eighty  to  ninety  per  cent.,  the  pro- 
portions of  these  several  substances  varying  according 
to  the  kind  of  animal,  the  food  used  and  other  circum- 
stances. 

931.  Though  to  the  naked  eye  it  appears  to  be  of  the 
same  character  throughout,  under  the  microscope  a 
myriad  of  little  round  or  oval  globules,  of  unequal  sizes, 
are  seen  floating  in  the  watery  matter.  These  globules 
are  particles  of  butter  enclosed  in  a  thin  film  of  cheesy 
matter.  They  are  so  minute  that  they  filter  through  the 
finest  paper. 

932.  Milk  weighs  about  four  per  cent,  more  than  water. 
Cold  condenses  while  heat  liquefies  it.  The  elements  of 
which  it  is  composed,  being  different  in  character  and 
specific  gravity,  undergo  rapid  changes  when  at  rest. 
The  oily  or  butter  particles  being  lighter  than  the  rest, 
soon  begin  to  rise  to  the  surface  in  the  form  of  a  yellowish 
semi-liquid  cream,  while  the  greater  specific  gravity  of 
the  whey  carries  it  down. 

933.  The  butter  particles  in  rising  to  the  surface,  bring 
up  with  them  many  cheesy  particles,  which  mechanically 
adhere  to  their  external  surfaces,  thus  giving  the  cream 
more  or  less  of  a  white  instead  of  a  yellow  color,  as  well 
as  many  watery  particles  which  make  it  thinner  than  it 
would  otherwise  be. 

934.  If  the  globules  rose  up  free  from  the  adhesion  of 
other  substances,  they  would  appear  in  the  form  of  pure 
butter,  and  the  process  of  churning  would  be  unnecessary. 
The  collection,  or  coagulation  of  the  cheesy  particles,  by 
which  the  curd  becomes  separated  from  the  whey,  some- 
times takes  place  so  rapidly,  from  the  effect  of  great  heat 
and  sudden  changes  in  the  atmosphere,  that  there  is  not 


MILK   AND    CREAM.  257 

time  for  the  butter  particles  to  rise  to  the  surface,  and 
they  remain  mixed  up  with  the  curd. 

935.  When  exposed  to  a  warm  atmosphere,  milk  readily 
becomes  sour,  its  sugar  of  milk  becoming  what  is  called 
lactic  acid.  It  is  this  sugar  and  the  chemical  changes  to 
which  it  gives  rise,  that  make  milk  susceptible  of  under- 
going all  degrees  of  fermentation,  and  of  being  made  into 
a  fermented  and  palatable  but  intoxicating  liquor,  which 
on  distillation  produces  pure  alcohol. 

936.  Milk  will  generally  yield  from  ten  to  fifteen  per 
cent,  of  its  own  volume  of  cream,  the  average  being 
about  -twelve  and  a  half  per  cent.  Eight  quarts  of  milk 
of  average  richness,  will  therefore  give  about  one  quart 
of  cream.  But  the  milk  of  some  cows  fed  on  rich  food, 
will  far  exceed  this,  sometimes  furnishing  twenty  per  cent, 
of  cream,  and  in  very  rare  instances,  twenty-five  and 
twenty-six  per  cent.  The  quantity  of  cream  to  be  obtained 
from  milk  is  much  more  uniform  than  the  quantity  of 
butter  from  cream.  Rich  milk  is  lighter  in  weight  than 
poor. 

937.  The  temperature  of  milk  as  it  comes  from  the 
cow  is  about  blood  heat,  or  ninety-eight  degrees  of  Fahren- 
heit, and  it  should  be  cooled  as  little  as  possible  before 
coming  to  rest  in  the  pan.  The  depth  of  milk  in  the  pan 
should  be  shallow,  not  greater  than  two  or  three  inches. 
A  moderate  warmth  and  shallow  depth  facilitate  the  rising 
of  the  cream.  The  temperature  of  the  dairy  room  should 
not  vary  much  from  fifty-eight  degrees. 

938.  Milk  is  extremely  sensitive  to  external  influences, 
and  hence  the  utmost  cleanliness  is  necessary  to  preserve 
it  for  any  length  of  time.  The  pails,  strainers  and  pans, 
the  milk  room,  and  in  short  all  the  surroundings,  must 


258         ECONOMY  OF  THE  HOUSEHOLD. 

be  kept  neat  and  clean,  to  an  extent  which  only  the  best 
dairy  women  can  appreciate. 

939.  The  largest  butter  globules  being  comparatively 
the  lightest,  begin  to  rise  first  after  the  milk  comes  to  rest 
in  the  pan,  and  form  the  first  layer  of  cream,  which  is  the 
best,  since  it  is  less  filled  with  cheesy  particles.  The  next 
largest  rise  a  little  more  slowly,  are  more  entangled  with 
other  substances  and  bring  more  of  them  to  the  surface. 
The  smallest  rise  the  most  slowly  of  all,  are  loaded  with 
caseous  matter  and  produce  inferior  cream  and  butter. 
The  most  delicate  cream,  and  the  sweetest  and  most 
fragrant  butter  are  obtained  by  skimming  only  a  few 
hours  after  the  milk  is  set. 

940.  On  large  dairy  farms,  a  building  is  generally 
erected  as  a  dairy  house.  This  should  be  at  a  distance 
from  low  damp  places,  from  which  disagreeable  exhalations 
may  rise,  and  should  be  Avell-ventilated  and  kept  constantly 
clean  and  sweet  by  the  free  use  of  pure  water. 

941.  But  in  smaller  dairies  economy  dictates  the  use 
of  a  room  in  the  house.  This  should  be,  if  possible,  on 
the  north  side,  and  used  exclusiA^ely  for  this  purpose. 
Most  cellars  are  unsuitable  for  setting  milk,  but  where  a 
large  and  airy  room  is  partitioned  off  from  the  rest  of  the 
cellar,  and  can  be  thoroughly  ventilated  by  windows,  a 
greater  uniformity  of  temperature  can  be  secured  there 
than  on  the  floor  above.  Such  a  room  may  be  used  to 
advantage,  but  it  should  have  a  floor  of  gravel  or  loam, 
dry  and  porous,  and  without  cement. 

942.  Carbonic  acid,  a  heavy  and  noxious  gas,  is  apt  to 
infect  the  atmosphere  near  the  bottom  of  a  cellar,  and  a 
porous  floor  acts  as  an  absorbent.  It  is  evident  that  cream 
will  not  rise  so  quickly  or  so  well  when  the  milk  pans  are 
set  on  the  cellar  bottom.     The  air  is  less  pure,  and  the 


THE   MILK    STAND. 


259 


cream  is  liable  to  become  acrid.  When  the  object  is  to 
obtain  the  most  cream  in  the  shortest  time,  the  milk 
should  stand  on  shelves  from  four  to  six  feet  from  the 
floor,  around  which  a  free  circulation  of  air  can  be  had 
from  the  windows. 

943.  Avery  convenient 
milk  stand  is  represented 
in  figure  88.  It  is  made 
of  light  seasoned  wood  in 
an  octagonal  form,  and 
will  hold  one  hundred 
and  seventy-six  pans  of 
the  ordinary  form  and 
size.  It  is  simple  and 
easily  constructed,  econo- 
mizes space,  and  may  be 
adapted  to  a  room  of  any 
size  iised  for  this  or  a 
similar  purpose.  If  a 
stream  of  pure  water  be 
near  at  hand,  it  may  be 


Fig.  88. 


brought  in  under  the  stand  by  one  channel  and  taken  out 
by  another,  thus  keeping  up  a  constant  circulation  under 
the  milk  stand.  This  is  regarded  as  highly  important  by 
many  dairymen. 

944.  Milk  pans  are  generally  made  of  tin,  this  having 
been  found  to  be  the  best  on  the  whole.  After  the  milk 
has  stood  from  eighteen  to  twenty-four  hours  in  a  favorable 
place,  the  cream  may  be  removed  and  placed  in  stone  jars 
where  it  is  kept  till  the  churning.  It  is  always  best  to 
churn  as  often  as  possible ;  in  large  dairies  every  day,  in 
smaller  ones  every  other  day.  But  where  this  is  not 
practicable,  put  the  cream  into  a  stone  jar  and  sprinkle 

23 


260  ECONOMY   OF  THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

over  a  little  pure  fine  salt.  When  more  cream  is  added, 
stir  up  the  whole  together  and  sprinkle  over  it  a  little 
more  salt,  and  so  on  till  there  is  enough  to  churn. 

945.  Butter  may  be  got  from  cream  when  at  a  temper- 
ature ranging  from  forty-five  to  seventy-five  degrees 
Fahrenheit,  but  it  is  a  matter  of  the  utmost  nicety  to 
regulate  the  temperature  so  as  to  get  the  best  quality  of 
butter  from  it.  Careful  experiments  have  seemed  to  show 
that  the  cream  being  at  about  fifty-one  degrees  at  the 
beginning  of  the  churning,  the  best  quality  of  butter  may 
be  obtained  from  it.  The  temperature  rises  during  the 
operation  several  degrees,  depending  much  on  the  time  it 
takes.  If  it  were  fifty-one  or  fifty-two  degrees  at  the 
beginning,  it  would  be  about  fifty-five  degrees  at  the  close. 
But  if  the  object  be  to  obtain  the  greatest  quantity  of 
butter  from  cream,  the  churning  may  be  commenced  with 
the  cream  at  fifty-six  degrees,  and  the  temperature  will 
gradually  rise  to  about  sixty.  The  greatest  quantity  of 
butter  of  the  best  quality,  is  got  from  cream  standing  at 
about  fifty-three  degrees.  To  bring  the  cream  to  a  proper 
temperature  it  may  be  lowered  into  the  water  in  a  well 
and  remain  over  night  in  hot  weather,  or  receive  the 
addition  of  a  little  warm  water  in  winter. 

946.  The  operation  of  churning  should  not  be  hurried. 
The  butter  from  cream  churned  from  a  half  to  three- 
quarters  of  an  hour,  is  of  far  better  quality  and  consist- 
ency than  that  churned  in  five  or  ten  minutes,  in  which 
time  it  may  be  brought  with  a  higher  temperature  of  the 
cream. 

947.  A  simple  square  box  turning  on  an  axle  is  one 
of  the  best  forms  of  the  churn.  It  is  the  concussion 
rather  than  the  motion  which  brings  the  butter,  and  this 
form  of  churn  gives  it  as  well  as  the  dasher.     The  cream 


THE   BUTTER  WORKER. 


261 


takes   a  compound  motion,  and  the  concussion  against 
the  sides  and  right  angled  corners  is  very  great. 

948.  After 
the  butter  has 
come,  it  must 
be  thoroughly 
worked  till  the 
buttermilk  is 
removed.  The 
best  way  of 
doing  this  is 
on  the  butter 
worker,  (Fig. 
89.)  After  roll- 
ing, it  may  be  Hg.  89 
slightly  salted.  A  large  sponge  covered  with  a  clean  cloth  is 
a  most  useful  article  for  removing  the  milk  from  the  surface 
of  the  butter,  where  it  will  be  found  to  stand  in  little  round 
globules  after  it  has  been  pressed  or  worked.  With  the 
sponge  nearly  every  particle  of  milk  may  be  taken  olF.  In 
warm  weather  have  a  pan  of  ice  water  at  hand,  and  after 
using  the  sponge  soak  it  in  the  water,  and  rinse  and  press 
it  out  dry  to  use  again.  Butter  made  in  this  careful' way 
will  keep  better  than  any  other,  as  the  buttermilk,  often 
imperfectly  worked  out,  does  more  to  destroy  its  sweet- 
ness and  solidity  than  any  thing  else. 

949.  Another  simple 
form  of  the  butter  Avork- 
er  is  shown  in  figure  90. 
A  plain  apple  tree  slab 
is  better  than  marble  for  '"' 
the  butter  to  lie  on.  It 
would     not     be    either 


262  ECONOMY    OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

difficult  or  expensive  to  fix  this  upon  a  common  table. 
The  attachment  of  one  end  of  the  roller,  as  shown  in 
figure  89,  by  a  lever,  is  not  necessary,  but  saves  strength 
in  working.  The  hands  should  never  come  in  direct 
contact  with  the  butter  if  it  can  be  avoided,  as  it  may  be 
by  either  form  of  the  butter  worker. 

950.  After  completely  removing  the  buttermilk,  the 
butter  may  be  formed  into  pound  lumps,  or  put  down 
into  firkins  made  of  white  oak,  which  should  first  be  well 
cleansed.  When  thus  made,  it  will  keep  a  long  time  with 
little  salting.  Over-salted  butter  is  not  only  less  agreeable 
to  the  taste,  but  less  healthy  than  that  which  is  fresh  and 
sweet.  In  general,  miich  salt  is  needed  only  when  butter 
is  badly  worked  over,  and  to  prevent  the  ill  effects  of 
neglect. 

951.  It  is  sometimes  necessary  to  pack  butter  in  new 
boxes,  and  the  dairy  woman  should  know  how  to  prevent 
an  unpleasant  flavor  from  being  imparted  to  the  butter  by 
the  fresh  wood.  For  this  purpose  use  common  or  bi-car- 
bonate  of  soda,  putting  about  a  pound  into  each  thirty-two 
pound  box,  and  pouring  boiling  water  upon  it.  If  the 
solution  be  allowed  to  stand  in  the  box  over  night,  the 
box  may  be  safely  used  the  next  day.  The  adoption  of 
this  simple  precaution  would  often  prevent  great  losses. 

952.  In  medium-sized  dairies  the  nicest  quality  of 
butter  might  be  made  from  cream  taken  off  after  standing 
in  a  favorable  position  for  twelve  or  eighteen  hours,  when 
the  skimmed  milk  would  still  make  a  fine  quality  of 
cheese. 

953.  Cheese  is  made  from  the  caseine  in  the  milk.  If 
allowed  to  become  sour,  milk  will  curdle,  when  the 
whey  may  be  separated  from  it.  But  in  practice  the  curd 
is  produced  by  the  addition  of  an  acid  in  the  form  of 


CHEESE  MAKING.  263 

rennet,  which  is  the  stomach  of  the  young  calf  prepared 
by  washing,  salting,  drying  and  preservation. 

954.  Cheese  may  be  made  entirely  of  cream,  from  whole 
or  unskimmed  milk  with  the  cream  of  other  milk  added, 
from  milk  from  which  a  part  of  the  cream  has  been  taken, 
from  ordinary  skim  milk,  from  milk  that  has  been  skimmed 
three  or  four  times  so  as  to  remove  nearly  every  particle 
of  cream,  or  even  from  buttermilk.  The  acid  used  to 
curdle  the  milk  acts  only  on  the  caseine  and  not  on  the 
butter  particles.  The  latter  may  remain  imbedded  in  the 
curd  as  it  hardens,  and  will  increase  the  richness  and 
flavor  of  the  cheese,  but  they  do  not  add  at  all  to  its 
firmness,  which  is  due  to  the  caseine  alone. 

955.  The  process  of  cheese  making  is  both  chemical 
and  mechanical.  The  milk  is  heated  to  about  ninety-five 
degrees,  when  the  rennet  is  added,  the  chemical  action 
being  thus  hastened,  and  the  separation  of  the  whey 
facilitated.  If  the  rennet  be  strong  and  good,  enough 
may  be  used  to  curd  the  milk  in  about  half  an  hour.  It 
is  then  allowed  to  stand  for  half  an  hour  or  an  hour, 
when  it  is  cut  across  in  difierent  directions,  to  allow  the 
whey  to  work  out  more  freely. 

956.  The  preparation  of  the  rennet  requires  great 
care  ;  indeed,  every  process  in  cheese  making  calls  for 
the  exercise  of  much  judgment  and  experience.  Many 
fail  in  consequence  of  hurrying  the  pressing.  The  cheese 
is  usually  allowed  to  stand  in  the  press  only  one  day, 
though  a  longer  time  would  make  a  much  better  cheese. 
A  self-acting  cheese  press  is  shown  in  figure  91. 

957.  A  very  small  advance  in  the  price  of  dairy  pro- 
ducts from  improved  quality,  would  add  very  largely  to 
the  profits  of  many  a  farm.  These  articles  are  generally 
the  last  on  which  purchasers  are  disposed  to  economize, 

23* 


264 


ECONOMY   OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 


Fig.  91. 


it  is  the  quality  of 
the  articles  they  look  at. 
Every  thing  depends  on 
quality.* 

958.  There  is  no  more 
important  branch  of  do- 
mestic economy  than  that 
which  relates  to  the  use 
of  the  great  staples  of 
human  food,  especially 
the  articles  employed  in 
making  bread.  A  large 
part  of  the  ill  health  and 
unhappiness  of  families 
arises  from  bad  or  defec- 
tive cooking.  The  really 
good  and  healthy  bread 
made  in  this  country 
bears   but   a   very  small 


proportion  to  that  of  decidedly  poor  quality. 

959.  Undoubtedly  this  may  in  part  be  ascribed  to  the 
fiour  which  the  housekeeper  is  obliged  to  use.  Its  quality 
varies  exceedingly  in  different  samples,  and  we  cannot 
always  obtain  what  is  really  good. 

960.  Every  hundred  pounds  of  wheat  contain  from 
fifty-five  to  sixty-eight  pounds  of  starch,  from  ten  to 
twenty  pounds  of  gluten,  and  from  one  to  five  pounds  of 
fatty  matter.  The  relative  quantities  of  these  substances 
vary  considerably  in  different  climates  and  soils.  Thus 
the  proportion  of  gluten  is  largest  in  wheat  grown  in 

*The  management  of  the  dairy  is  stated  in  greater  detail  in  the  Treatise  on 
"Milch  Cows  and  Dairy  Farming,"  to  which  any  who  wish  to  pursue  the  subject 
farther  can  refer. 


COMPOSITION    OF   GRAINS. 


265 


quite  warm  countries.  It  is  larger  in  Virginia  or  Mary- 
land wheat  than  in  that  of  Michigan  or  the  Canadas. 

961.  Starch,  as  we  have  seen,  is  a  white  powder  which 
forms  a  large  part  of  the  substance  of  most  of  the  grains, 
as  also  of  the  potato.  A  general  idea  of  the  proportion 
in  which  it  appears  in  the 
grains,  may  be  obtained 
from  figure  92,  in  which  the 
grains  are  magnified,  and 
where  a  represents  the  posi- 
tion and  comparative  quan- 
tity of   the  oily  portions  of 

a  kernel  of  Indian  corn,  wheat  and  barley,  the  oil  being 
in  minute  drops  enclosed  in  six-sided  cells,  which  consist 
chiefly  of  gluten  ;  b^  the  proportion  and  position  of  the 
starch,  and  c,  the  germ  or  chit,  which  is  mainly  composed 
of  gluten. 

962.  Gluten,  as  well  as  starch,  exists  in  most  plants, 
though  the  proportion  in  some  is  far  greater  than  in  others. 
It  may  be  washed  out  of  dough  made  of  wheat  flour,  by 
placing  it  upon  a  sieve  or  a  porous  cloth  tied  over  a  deep 
dish,  and  pouring  on  water  as  long  as  it  continues  to  run 
through  of  a  whitish  or  milky  color.  The  starch  is  carried 
through  the  cloth  with  the  water,  and  the  gluten  is  left 
on  the  cloth.  The  starch  will  soon  settle  to  the  bottom 
of  the  dish. 

963.  The  grinding  of  the  wheat  does  not  wholly  crush 
the  outside  covering  of  the  grain,  which  is  harder  than 
the  rest.  This  is  usually  sifted  out  from  the  finer  portions 
in  the  form  of  bran,  and  may  be  fed  to  horses  or  other 
animals.     It  is  often  known  as  shorts. 

964.  On  mixing  water  enough  to  moisten  the  whole 
mass  of  flour,  the  particles  stick  to  each  other  and  form 


.266  ECONOMY   OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

a  smooth  and  elastic  dough.  This  dough  consists  of 
gluten,  so  called  from  its  stici^y  or  glutinous  character, 
and  starch.  These  two  substances,  as  we  have  seen,  may 
be  readily  separated. 

965.  If  we  add  a  little  yeast  to  the  flour  while  mixing 
with  water  to  form  dough,  and  let  it  stand  some  hours  in 
a  moderately  warm  place,  the  dough  begins  to  ferment 
and  rise,  increasing  considerably  in  bulk. 

966.  In  rising,  little  bubbles  of  carbonic  acid  gas  are 
set  free  throughout  the  mass  of  dough,  and  this  it  is 
which  makes  the  bread  porous  and  light,  by  the  stretching 
or  expansion  of  the  tenacious  gluten.  Set  the  dough  in 
a  hot  oven,  and  the  fermentation  and  rising  are  first 
hastened  by  the  elevated  temperature.  But  when  the 
whole  is  heated  up  .  to  the  point  of  boiling  water,  the 
process  is  suddenly  stopped,  and  the  mass  is  fixed  by  the 
baking  in  the  form  it  had  taken  when  the  rising  was 
suddenly  arrested  by  the  heat. 

967.  But  w^hy  is  the  rising  so  suddenly  checked  in  the 
oven  ?  The  yeast  we  have  added  to  the  dough  is?  in 
reality  a  living  plant,  which  grows  or  increases  with  great 
activity  when  it  comes  in  contact  with  the  moisture  of  the 
dough,  producing  what  we  call  fermentation  or  rising. 

968.  During  this  process,  a  part  of  the  starch  in  the 
flour  is  changed  into  sugar,  and  this  sugar  into  alcohol 
and  carbonic  acid  gas.  This  gas  cannot  escape  from  the 
dough  as  the  elastic  gluten  expands,  but  it  remains  in  the 
shape  of  bubbles.  At  last  the  heat  becomes  great  enough 
to  destroy  the  yeast  plant,  and  the  process  of  rising  ceases. 
The  alcohol  mostly  escapes  in  the  baking. 

969.  After  the  loaf  is  sufficiently  bailed,  if  we  cut  it 
through  we  find  it  is  spongy  and  full  of  little  cavities, 
made  by  the  gas  bubbles  during  the  rising.     It  is  then 


QUALITIES    OF    FLOUR.  267 

soft  and  agreeable.  But  in  the  course  of  a  day  or  two 
the  peculiar  softness  disappears,  and  the  bread  seems  to 
be  drier  and  crumbles  readily.  This  apparent  dryness  is 
not  caused  by  a  loss  of  water.  Stale  bread  contains  very 
nearly  the  same  amount  of  Avater  as  that  newly  baked. 
Both  contain  on  an  average  from  thirty-five  to  forty-five 
pounds  of  water  in  every  hundred  pounds.  Stale  bread, 
though  not  generally  so  agreeable  to  the  taste,  is  very 
properly  regarded  as  more  wholesome  than  new. 

970.  The  more  gluten  any  variety  of  flour  contains, 
the  more  water  will  it  hold.  When  wet,  the  gluten  does 
not  dry  up  readily,  but  forms  a  close  and  tenacious  coating 
around  the  little  cells  formed  in  rising,  which  neither 
allows  the  gas  enclosed  in  them  to  escape  nor  the  Avater 
to  dry  up  and  pass  off  in  vapor,  but  both  are  retained. 

971.  Now  we  see  why  flour  made  of  wheat  grown  in  a 
warmer  climate  and  containing  a  larger  per  cent,  of 
gluten,  is  sold  at  a  higher  price  in  the  market.  It  is 
intrinsically  more  valuable.  The  larger  amount  of  gluten 
not  only  increases  its  nutritive  value,  but  its  economic 
value  also.  It  has  a  greater  power  of  holding  the  car- 
bonic acid  gas  produced  in  the  fernientation,  and  this 
gives  it  the  spongy  lightness  always  characteristic  of  good 
bread.  It  also  absorbs  more  water,  and  its  weight  is 
greater. 

972.  In  an  experiment  said  to  have  been  carefully  and 
accurately  made,  with  two  pounds  of  Cincinnati  and  two 
pounds  of  Alabama  flour,  each  being  mixed  with  a  quarter 
of  a  pound  of  yeast,  made  into  a  loaf,  and  both  baked  in 
the  same  oven,  the  loaf  made  from  the  first  was  found  to 
weigh  three  pounds,  that  from  the  second  three  and  a  half. 
The  difference  was  thus  about  fifteen  per  cent,  in  favor 
of  the  southern  or  more  glutinous  flour.     If  the  same 


268  ECONOMY   OF   THE    HOUSEHOLD. 

proportion  were  found  to  hold  generally,  six  barrels  of 
southern  flour  would  be  about  equal  to  seven  of  northern. 

973.  Flour  in  its  natural  state  contains  from  twelve  to 
sixteen  per  cent,  of  water,  but  it  will  take  up  about  half 
its  own  weight  of  water  in  addition,  so  that  a  hundred 
pounds  of  good  flour  make  about  a  hundred  and  lifty 
pounds  of  bread. 

974 o  It  is  an  important  fact,  that  the  bran  which  is 
generally  so  carefully  sifted  out  of  the  flour,  is  rather 
more  nutritious  than  the  fine  flour  itself.  The  oily  parts 
of  the  grain  lie  mostly  near  the  surface.  The  less  finely 
bolted  flour  is  undoubtedly  more  nutritious  and  whole- 
some than  the  finest  and  whitest  samples. 

975.  Rye  flour,  though  it  does  not  difler  materially 
from  wheat  flour  in  composition,  is  yet  unlike  it  in  some 
respects.  Its  color  is  not  white,  but  a  grayish  brown  ;  the 
bread  made  of  it  is  not  soporous  as  that  made  of  wheat  flour, 
nor  the  dough  so  tough.  Its  starch  cannot  be  washed  out 
like  that  of  wheat  flour.  B.ye  bread  may  be  kept  fresh  and 
moist  much  longer  than  wheat,  perhaps  on  account  of 
the  peculiarity  of  its  gluten. 

976.  The  preference  of  Avheat  to  rye  arises  from  taste 
or  prejudice  merely.  They  have  nearly  the  same  nutritive 
value.  Barley  also  contains  about  the  same  proportion 
of  nutritive  matter.  Eye  flour  when  mixed  with  an  equal 
quantity  of  Indian  meal,  will  make  a  very  palatable  and 
healthy  bread. 

977.  The  general  principles  of  bread  making  apply 
alike  to  all  kinds  of  flour  or  meal,  but  Indian  meal,  though 
in  composition  and  nutritive  properties  not  differing  much 
from  wheat  flour,  does  not  make  equally  spongy  bread. 

978.  The  most  common  modes  of  cooking  the  meats 
we  set  upon  the  table,  are  simple  boiling,  roasting  and 


COOKING   OF   MEATS.  269 

baking.  Out  of  every  four  pounds,  beef  loses  one  in 
boiling,  one  pound  and  three  ounces  in  roasting,  and  one 
pound  and  five  ounces  in  baking.  The  same  weight  of 
mutton  loses  in  boiling  fourteen  ounces,  in  roasting  one 
pound  and  four  ounces,  and  in  baking  one  pound  and  six 
ounces. 

979.  Fresh  lean  beef  contains  about  seventy-eight  per 
cent,  of  water,  including  the  blood.  Wheat  flour  bread, 
as  we  have  seen,  contains  only  forty-five  per  cent,  of 
water.  But  the  gluten  of  wheat  has  its  corresponding 
element  in  beef  in  the  fibrin,  as  it  is  called,  and  beef 
contains  nineteen  per  cent,  of  this,  while  wheat  flour 
bread  has  only  six  per  cent,  of  gluten.  Again,  beef 
contains  more  or  less  fat,  generally  over  three  per  cent, 
in  lean  beef,  while  we  found  but  about  one  per  cent,  of  it 
in  the  flour.  The  chief  difference  is,  then,  in  the  starch, 
which  is  not  found  in  beef,  while  in  bread  it  forms  more 
than  forty-eight  per  cent.,  or  about  one-half  of  the  whole. 

980.  What  is  the  fibrin  of  the  meat  ?  A  thin  piece  of 
lean  beef  may  be  washed  in  clean  water  until  its  color  is 
entirely  lost,  the  blood  being  washed  out,  and  only  a  white 
mass  of  fibres  being  left,  which  constitutes  the  muscle  of 
the  living  animal.  This  is  called  fibrin.  It  takes  its  name 
from  its  fibrous  nature.  It  contains  in  mixture  part  of 
the  fat  of  the  animal,  and  with  it  constitutes  the  main 
substance  of  the  meat.  Meat  is  therefore  composed  of 
water  colored  by  the  blood,  fibrin  and  fat.  In  highly  fed 
animals,  we  find  the  fat  often  collected  by  itself  in  various 
parts  of  the  body,  as  in  the  suet  in  and  around  the  bones, 
or  it  is  deposited  in  large  masses  under  the  skin,  instead 
of  being  evenly  distributed  through  the  fibrous  mass  of 
muscular  tissue,  so  as  to  produce,  in  the  case  of  beef, 
what  is  called  well  marbled  beef. 


270-  ECONOMY   OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

981.  The  loss  in  cooking  meat  is  mainly  in  the  evapora- 
tion of  water,  and  in  the  fat  which  melts  out  in  roasting 
and  baking.  But  this  water  mixed  as  it  is  with  the  bloody 
and  holding  more  or  less  of  various  saline  substances  in 
solution,  constitutes  what  is  called  the  juice  of  the  meat, 
and  if  this  were  all  extracted  the  meat  would  become  a 
mere  tasteless  mass. 

982.  It  is  very  important,  therefore,  in  cooking  meats, 
to  preserve  their  rich  juices  as  much  as  possible.  This  is 
done  in  boihng  and  some  other  modes  of  cooking,  by 
subjecting  them  to  great  heat  when  first  put  over  the  fire. 
By  this  means  the  fibres  near  the  surface  are  contracted, 
the  escape  of  the  juice  is  prevented,  and  the  piece  is  to  a 
great  extent,  cooked  in  its  own  moisture. 

983.  Hence,  if  meats  are  to  be  boiled,  they  are  usually 
put  at  once  into  boiling  w^ater ;  if  to  be  roasted,  they  are 
exposed  to  a  quick  fire  at  once,  either  of  which  retains 
the  liquid  contents  within,  in  the  manner  explained.  If 
exposed  to  a  slow  fire  or  to  cold,  or  only  warm  water,  very 
much  of  the  riclmess  of.  meat,  as  well  as  of  its  nutritive 
quality,  is  lost,  and  tlie  piece  will  become  hard  and  dry. 

984.  But  in  the  preparation  of  soups,  broths,  beef  tea, 
&c.,  the  object  is  to  extract  the  juices ;  hence  they  are 
put  into  cold  water  and  either  simmered  over  a  slow  fire, 
or  gradually  but  quickly  brought  to  a  boil.  For  these 
purposes  soft  water  is  best,  because  it  has  a  greater 
solvent  power  than  liard,  which  holds  in  solution  more 
or  less  mineral  matters,  especially  lime.  In  ordinary 
boiling,  however,  where  Ave  only  wish  to  cook  the  meat, 
and  not  extract  the  juices  in  which  its  flavor  and  richness 
consist,  hard  water  is  better. 

985.  The  use  and  manufacture  of  soap  also  form  an 
important  part  of  domestic  economy.     When  oily  or  fatty 


CLEANSING   PROPERTIES   OF   SOAP.  271 

substances  come  in  contact  with  an  alkali,  in  solution  at 
an  elevated  temperature,  they  undergo  an  entire  change, 
and  on  this  change  the  Avhole  process  of  soap  making 
depends. 

986.  The  soap  made  in  the  farm-house  is  that  known 
as  soft  soap,  and  is  formed  by  the  union  of  potash  with 
more  or  less  fatty  matter.  Hard  soaps  are  made  by  the 
use  of  soda,  with  which  potash  is  sometimes  mixed. 
Potash  will  not  harden  when  water  is  present,  as  it 
always  is  in  considerable  quantities  in  soft  soap.  But 
soap  made  with  soda  will  absorb 'more  than  its  own  weight 
of  water  without  losing  its  consistency. 

987.  The  soft  soaps  are  generally  made  of  soft  fats, 
while  the  hard  soaps  are  more  frequently  made  from 
tallow.  In  making  castile  soap,  olive  oil  and  soda  are 
u.sed,  and  its  peculiar  marbled  appearance  is  produced  by 
the  mixture  of  iron  rust.  Rosin  is  very  often  added  in 
the  manufacture  of  common  or  yellow  soaps. 

988.  Rosin  soaps  dissolve  or  form  lather  so  readily, 
that  they  are  generally  believed  to  be  very  effective,  but 
they  are  by  no  means  so  economical  as  the  soda  soaps, 
their  cleansing  properties  being  inferior. 

989.  The  cleansing  properties  of  soap  depend  mainly 
on  its  alkaline  ingredients.  When  brouglit  in  contact 
with  the  impurities  of  clothing,  or  of  the  skin,  which  are 
made  up  of  a  greater  or  less  quantity  of  oily  matter 
derived  from  the  exhalations  of  the  body,  together  with 
dust  and  other  foreign  substances,  the  alkali  of  the  soap 
readily  seizes  hold  of  the  oily  matters  and  dissolves  or 
removes  them. 

990.  If  water  is  used  without  soap,  it  often  fails  to 
cleanse  thoroughly,  as  it  has  no  affinity  for  oily 
substances,  and  therefore  leaves  tliem  and  whatever  has 

24 


272  ECONOMY   OF   THE   HOUSEHOLD. 

adhered  to  them,  in  the  cloth  or  on  the  skin.  An  alkaU 
might  be  used  alone,  but  it  would  be  so  powerful  as  to 
injure  or  destroy  whatever  it  came  in  contact  with. 
Washing  fluids  are  simple  solutions  of  caustic  alkali. 

991.  In  the  life  of  the  farmer,  as  in  that  of  every  other 
man,  it  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  make  home 
attractive  to  all  the  family.  It  is  unnecessary  to  say  that 
the  strictest  neatness  and  good  order  in  all  domestic 
arrangements,  is  more  conducive  than  any  thing  else  to 
this  end.  Without  them  no  dwelling  can  have  an  air  of 
cheerfulness  and  comfort. 

992.  The  cultivation  of  flowers  in  the  house  and 
the  garden,  is  well  calculated  to  aid  the  skilful  house- 
keeper in  adorning  and  beautifying  home,  while  it  affords 
a  pleasant  occupation  for  leisure  hours.  Who  does  not 
feel  the  influence  of  flowers  blooming  in  the  window,  and 
in  the  neat  beds  of  the  garden  or  the  front  yard. 
Graceful  vines  trailing  over  the  door-Avay,  give  a  charm 
to  the  poorest  dwelling,  and  make  the  humblest  cottage 
attractive. 

993.  The  judicious,  thrifty  and  economical  manage- 
ment of  even  tlie  smallest  household,  is  worthy  of  the 
highest  praise  that  man  can  bestow,  and  duties  well 
performed,  whatever  they  may  be,  give  the  greatest  of 
all  consolations,  an  approving  conscience  and  a  cheerful 
heart ! 


INDEX. 


Page. 

Acclimation  often  difficult, 33 

Accounts,  importance  of  keeping, 254 

Acetous  fermentation, 117 

Acids,  combinations  of, 62,  65,  66 

Adhesion,  force  of, 19,  20 

Agriculture,  definition  of, 1 

Air,  moisture  in  the, 37,  140 

Air,  weight  of  the, 6,  26,  27,  28 

Albumen  in  the  body,       .        ■ 71 

Alkali,  properties  of, 63,  271,  272 

Alimentary  plants, 55,  56 

Alumina,  abundance  of, 78,  79 

Aluminum,  basis  of  clay, 65,  79 

Amaryllis  family,  the, 54 

Amendments  for  special  soils, 94,  95 

Ammonia  essential  to  food  of  plants,        .        .        .11,  12,  39,  59,  63,  103,  107 

Animal  heat  sustained  by  combustion, 13 

Animal  life,  force  of, .        .        .20 

Animal  fibrin  essential  part  of  muscle, 71,  269 

Animals,  treatment  of, .        .        .  239,  247 

Apples,  ripening  of, 252 

Apple-tree  caterpillar,  mode  of  destroying, 223,  224 

Apple-tree  borer,  protecting  trees  from  the, 225,  226 

Argillaceous  or  clay  soils, 75,  78,  94 

Army  worm,  ravages  of  the, 230,  231 

Arrow-root,  starch  in, 68 

Artichoke,  culture  and  qualities  of  the,    .        .        .        .        .        .        .  187 

Artificial  system, .  50 

Ashes  of  plants, 61, 104, 105,  203 

Atmosphere,  elements  of  the, 37,  39,  87,  96,  97, 141 

Atmosphere,  phenomena  of  the, .31 

Attraction  of  gravitation, .        .        .         •   19 

Ayrshires,  origin  and  characteristics  of  the, 232,  233 

Barley,  soils  adapted  to, 168, 169 

Barometer,  use  of  the, 24,  26,  28 

273 


274  INDEX. 

Page. 

Bases,  oxides  of  metals, 14 

Beans,  culture  and  varieties  of, 179,174 

Bedding  for  cattle, 119 

Beef,  loss  of,  in  cooking, -        .        .        .  269,  270 

Beet,  culture  and  varieties  of  the, 182,  183 

Biennials, 50 

Blackberry,  cultivation  of  the,         .        . 252 

Blight  in  plants, 219,  220 

Blood,  vitalizing  the, 12 

Blood,  composition  of, 114 

Boiling  of  water, 25,  36 

Bones,  composition  of, 114 

Bran,  nutritive  qualities  of, 268 

Bread  making,  principles  of, 264,  265,  268 

Breathing,  process  of, .        .      12, 13 

Broomcorn,  cultivation  of, 197,  198 

Brush  drains,  construction  of, 13D,  140 

Buckwheat  family,  the, 54 

Buckwheat,  culture  of, 158, 171 

Bulbs,  planting  of, 147,  151 

Burning  over  lands, 132,  135,  137 

Butter,  making  and  qualities  of, 260,  261,  262 

Butter  packing, 262 

Butter  w^orker,  form  of  the, 261 

Cabbage  and  its  culture, 52, 182,  250 

Calcareous  rocks  and  soils, 75,  76,  79,  88 

Calyx  of  the  flower, 46 

Canker-worm,  protection  against  the, 224 

Capillary  attraction, 17,  42,  133 

Capital,  necessity  for, 1,  245 

Carbon  and  carbonates,    .        .        .        .        .        .  14,60,65,102,103,105 

Carbonic  acid,  combinations  and  action  of,     .        .        11,  15,  20,  39,  59,  90,  128 

Carrots  and  their  culture, 53, 183, 184,  185,  213 

Caseine  or  cheesy  matter  in  milk, 71,255,256,262,203 

Cells  of  the  plant, 57 

Cellulose  or  woody  fibre, 67,  208,  254 

Cellar,  bottom  of  the, 119,  258,  259 

Cereals  and  their  culture, 55, 158,  162,  164,  167,  169 

Changes  in  the  atmosphere, 30,  35,  37 

Changes  of  plants  in  maturing, 166,  253,  254 

Charcoal  or  carbon, 15,  60 

Cheese,  process  of  making, 263,  264 

Chemical  analysis, 6,  75 

Chemistry,  what  it  teaches, .       C,  75 


INDEX. 


275 


Chinch-bug  destroyed  by  birds, 

Chloride  of  sodium, 

Chlorine,  poisonous  qualities  of, 

Chlorophy],  color  of  plants  due  to, 

Churning,  process  of, 

Citric  acid,  taste  of  oranges  due  to 

Classification  of  plants,    . 

Clay  and  clay  soils. 

Cleanliness,  importance  of. 

Clearing,  process  of, 

Climate,  influence  of. 

Clouds,  definition  of, 

Clover  and  its  culture,    ' . 

Coal  the  remains  of  vegetation, 

Codling-moth,  ravages  of  the, 

Cohesion,  attraction  of,    . 

Color  of  leaves. 

Color  of  the  soil,  effect  of. 

Colza,  cultivation  of. 

Combustible  elements. 

Combustion  due  to  oxygen, 

Composite  family  of  plants, 

Composts,  formation  of,    . 

Conduction  of  heat. 

Copper  in  the  ashes  of  plants. 

Copperas  a  disinfectant,    . 

Cotyledonous  plants, 

Crops,  protection  of. 

Cruciferous  or  cress  family,  the, 

Crust  of  the  earth,  formation  of  the 

Culinary  roots,  culture  of, 

Cultivation,  benefits  of,     . 

Cultivator,  use  of  the, 

Curculio,  ravages  of  the. 

Currants  and  their  cultivation, 

Cut-Avorm,  ravages  of  the, 

Dairy,  management  of  the, 
Decay,  hov/  produced, 
Decomposition,  process  of, 
Deep  ploughing,  effect  of. 
Deepening  the  soil,   . 
Definite  proportions,  law  of, 
Devon  cattle,  characteristics  of  the, 
DcAr,  fonnnticn  of,    . 


41 


52,87 


78, 


79,87 


,188 


,145 


189 


125, 126 


177 


154 
135 

192 


,127^ 


180 


10 
40,  131, 
142,  143 


Page. 

230 

64 

64 

71 

260 

05 

50 

159,  193 

117,  118 

137,  141 

32,33 

3J 

193,  211 

60 

224,  225 

20 

71,72 

83 

69,  206 

60 

7 

53 

246,  247 

18 

65 

102 

48,49 

245,  246 

52 

74 

182,  187 

56,57 

145,  155 

225 

53,  251 

222,  246 

255,  263 

15,  117 

116,  117 

132,  143 

157,  184 

9 

233 

31,32 


276 


INDEX. 


Dicotyledonous  plants, 

Diseases  of  plants,    . 

Digging,  process  of. 

Diluvial  soils,   .... 

Disinfectants,  the  most  common, 

Diversity  of  climate. 

Drainage,  objects  and  effect  of, 

Drains,  construction  of,     . 

Drill  sowing,  advantages  of,     . 

Drought,  mode  of  guarding  against. 


Earth,  elements  of  the. 
Eight  elements  in  the  soil, 
Electricity  and  its  manifestations 
Elements  of  plants  and  soils, 
Embryo  of  the  plant, 
Endosmose,  definition  of. 
Ergot  found  in  rye  and  grasse 
Essential  elements  in  the  soil  and  plant, 
Evaporation,  effect  of. 
Excess  of  water  in  the  soil, 
Exhaustion  of  the  soil,     . 
Exosmose, 
Expansion  by  heat, 

Fahrenheit's  thermometer. 
Fallow,  object  of. 
Farm,  location  of  the. 
Farm  buildings,  location  of, 
Farm  stock,  management  of, 
Farming,  profits  of, 
Families  of  plants,    . 
Feeding,  for  special  purposes, 
Feeding,  experiments  in, 
Fences,  economy  of. 
Fermentation,  process  of. 
Fertility  of  the  soil. 
Fertilizers,  economy  of,    . 
Fibrin  in  the  system. 
Flax  and  its  culture, 
Flesh,  composition  and  uses  of. 
Flour,  vai-iations  in  quality  of. 
Flower,  organs  of  the, 
Fluorine,  corrosive  power  of, 
Foffs  and  clouds. 


41,  42 


43, 


93,  95,  130 
42,  43 
155 


18 


9G,  99,  104,  108 


Page. 
.  48, 54 
.  214,  215 
.  130, 144 
.  89, 90 
122 
.  33, 34 
137,  140,  141 
137,  139, 140 
162,  165, 197 
40,  43, 140, 191 


16 


74,  75,  96,  99 
124 
20,  22,  23,  38 
67,  96, 124 
.   47, 48 
58 
168,  215,  221 
.  124,  203 
.   20, 40 
40,  41,  43,  137,  141 
91,  204 
58 
24 


25 

.  204,  205 

243 

243 

232,  235,  247 

242,  245,  255 

51 

237,  240,  241 

236,  240,  241 

.  243,  244 

117 

,  81,160,247 

115,  125,  246 

70,  71,  269 

,  194,  195,  198 

112 

264,  267,  268 

46 

.   66, 67 

37 


1,  235,  236 


90 
109, 

52 


INDEX.  277 

Page. 

Food,  in  proportion  to  weight, 234,  235,  237,  241 

Forage  plants,  culture  of, 56,  188,  190,  193,  247 

Forest,  soil  of  the, ;        *        .        .  90 

Forest  trees,  effect  of, 95,  98 

Freezing,  process  of, 25,  37,  81 

Fruit  and  its  culture, 47,  251 

Furrow  slice,  turning  of  the, 142,  143,  145 

Garden  mould,  richness  of, ^        .        »        .  82 

Gases  of  the  air,       . 6,8,11,18 

Geine  or  humus, 15 

Genus  and  its  divisions, 51 

Germination  of  the  plant,         ....         47,  48, 146,  148,  149,  153,  154 

Geology,  objects  of, 75 

Glauber's  salt,  formation  of, 63 

Gluten  and  its  composition, 70,  71,  264,  265,  267,  268 

Gneiss,  composition  of,     ....>...        ..  76 

Gooseberry,  cultivation  of  the, 253 

Grains,  time  of  harvesting  the,        ......   16D,  170,  253,  254 

Granite,  composition  of, 76,  77 

Grapes,  time  of  setting  and  pruning, 253 

Grasses  and  their  culture,         .        .        .        .        .        .        .55, 188,  192,  207 

Grasses,  curing  of  the, 210,  211 

Grasses,  time  of  cutting, 207,208 

Grasses,  species  of  in  mixture, 189,190,191 

Gravitation,  attraction  of, .        .      19, 20 

Greenness  of  leaves,  to  what  due, 71 

Green  manures,  plants  best  for, 108,  109,  111 

Greenstone  rocks,  disintegration  of, 75,  76 

Guano,  origin  and  uses  of, 122, 180 

Gum,  varieties  of, 68 

Gypsum  or  plaster, 15,  96, 102, 117 

Hail,  formation  of, .  38 

Hair,  use  of  as  a  manure, 113 

Hard  water,  how  to  make  soft, 102 

Harrow,  use  of  the, 142,145,155 

Harvest,  time  of  the, 166,  169,  170,  207,  209,  211,  213 

Hay  crop,  uses  of  the, 207,  208 

Hay,  curing  of, 209,  210,  211 

Health,  effect  of  noxious  vapors  on, 127 

Heat,  diffusive  nature  of, 12, 16, 18,  24,  25,  31 

Hemp,  soils  adapted  to,   ....        = 196 

Hereford  cattle,  characteristics  of, 234 

Hoar  frost,  formation  of, .32 

26* 


278 


INDEX. 


Hoofs,  value  of  for  manure,     . 
Hop,  varieties  and  culture  of  the, 
Horse-hoe,  use  of  the, 
Horses,  treatment  of, 
Hot-bed,  construction  of  a, 
Hiimic  acid,     .... 

Humus, 

Hydrogen,  properties  of,  . 
Hygrometer,  use  of. 

Ice,  properties  and  use  of, 
Ichneumon-flies  attack  other  insects. 
Implements  used  on  the  farm,  . 
Indian  corn  and  its  culture, 
Indian  corn,  planting  of,  . 
Indian  corn,  selection  of  seed  of, 
Inorganic  fertilizers,  enumeration  of, 
Insects  injurious  to  certain  crops, 
Iris  family  of  plants. 
Iron,  attraction  of  oxvgen,      .  • 
Irrigation,  uses  of,    . 

Jelly  of  vegetables,  . 

Jersey  cattle,  characteristics  of, 

Kaolin,  or  porcelain  clay, 
Kelp,  manuring  properties  of,  . 
Kohl-rabi,  culture  of, 

Lands,  preparation  of. 

Latent  heat  in  water. 

Law  of  nature. 

Leached  ashes,  value  of,  . 

Leaf,  structure  and  functions  of  the 

Leaves,  as  fertilizers, 

Leguminous  plants,  cultivation  of. 

Lentil,  soils  adapted  to  the, 

Lichens,  growth  of,  . 

Light,  agency  of,      . 

Light  soils,  formation  of, 

Lime  in  plants  and  soil,  . 

Limestone  rocks  and  soils, 

Liquid  manures,  economy  of,  : 

Litter,  best  materials  for. 

Liquids,  effect  of  warming, 


55, 158 


Page. 

113 

.  198, 199 

.  1G2, 163 

183,  238,  239 

248,  249,  250 

.      15, 16 

15,  16,  97,  98 

8 

.      24,  29 


35 

222, 

223 

130, 

141, 

181, 

244 

,161, 

163, 

212, 

246 

155, 

159, 

160, 

162 

150, 

163 

4e 

5,99 

201, 

222, 

225, 

229 

54 

7,04 

40,05 

68 

233 

78 

63, 

110 
182 

134, 141,  155, 158, 161, 165, 178 
35 


104 

46,  71, 146, 147 

111 

.  172, 173, 175 

176 

45,  55,  98, 124 

16,  20,  21,  22,  146 

.      84,  85 

61,  66,  99, 101, 165 

75,  79,  88 

.  119,120,204 

119 

19 


INDEX.  279 

Page. 

Loss  of  manures, 123,  246 

Lucerne,  failure  of, 1D3 

Lye,  mode  of  obtaining, C2,  271 

IMagnesia,  proportion  of  in  -wheat, 64,  G6 

Manganese  in  the  ashes  of  plants, 65 

Mangolds,  soils  adapted  to,       .        .        . 182 

IMangolds,  harvesting  of, 182,  214 

Manures,  application  and  effect  of,  .        .         .     107,  152,  159, 178,  181,  184,  24G 
Manures,  animal  and  vegetable,       .        .    *    .        .        96,  99, 112, 114,  115,  118 

Manures,  care  of, 119,  121 

Manures,  mineral, .  100, 102,  104,  406,  108 

Marl,  effects  of, 101 

Marsh  mud,  use  of, 88 

Meats,  cooking  of, 269,  270 

Mica  found  in  granite, 91 

Mica  slate,  structure  of, 76 

Michigan  plough,  operation  of  the, 144 

Mildew  on  plants, 215,  216,  217 

Milk,  compositten  and  treatment  of, 115,  255,  256,  257 

Milk  stand,  form  of  the, 259 

Millet,  varieties  and  culture  of, 172 

Mineral  elements  taken  up  by  plants, 66,^  124 

Mineral  manures, 99 

Mist  in  the  atmosphere, 37 

Mixed  manures, 115 

Mixture  of  grasses  for  mowing  and  pasturage,       .        ,        .        .  190,  191,  193 

Moisture  in  the  air, .         .        . 16,  24,  29,  37,  141 

Monocotyledonous  plants, 49,  54 

Mould,  formation  of, 15 

Mowing  machine,  economy  of  the,  ........  209,  244 

Muck,  value  of  as  an  absorbent, 125, 127,  246 

Natural  families  of  plants, 50,  51 

Natural  formation  of  soils,        .        .        . 80, 81 

Neutral  salts,  form  in  which  minerals  enter  plants,         ....  63 

Night,  growth  of  plants  in  the, 21 

Night  shade  famih', ,        ,        .        .  53 

Nitrates  of  potash  and  soda, 108 

Nitric  acid,  corrosive  nature  of,        ,        .' 11 

Nitrogen,  properties  of, .  6,  8,  9 

Nitrogen  in  the  soil, 144 

Nitrogenous  compounds  of  plants, 70,  208 

Norfolk  rotation,  the  famous, 206 

Nourishment  of  plants, 96 


280 


INDEX. 


Oak  family  of  plants, 
Oats,  climate  and  soils  for, 
Oats,  cultivation  of, 
Oil  of  vitriol,  formation  of. 
Onion  maggot  and  fly,     . 
Open  drains,  objections  to, 
Opposite  electricities. 
Orchis  family  of  plants,  . 
Ores,  elements  in  form  of, 
Organic  manures,  division  of, 
Organs  of  plants. 
Original  types,  modification  of. 
Osiers,  cultivation  of, 
Osmotic  action, 
Ox  and  horse  labor. 
Oxalic  acid  in  sorrel. 
Oxidation  or  rusting. 
Oxides,  how  formed. 
Oxygen,  action  of,   . 
0_vster-shells,  value  of,     . 


Parsnips,  deep  ploughing  for,  . 

Pasturage,  mixture  of  grasses  for. 

Pea  culture  and  varieties  of  the, 

Pea  Aveevil,  remedy  against  the, 

Pears,  time  to  gather, 

Peat,  mode  of  using. 

Petal  of  the  flower,  . 

Phenomena  of  the  atmosphere, 

Phosphate  of  lime,  . 

Phosphates  in  plants. 

Phosphorus,  appearance  of, 

Pine  family  of  plants, 

Plaster  of  Paris,       ... 

Planting,  depth  of,  . 

Planting,  time  of,     . 

Planting  trees,  effect  on  climate  of, 

Plant  lice  on  -wheat. 

Plants,  absorption  and  exhalation  of. 

Plants,  development  of,  . 

Plants,  origin  of,      . 

Plough,  use  of  the,  . 

Plough  the  subsoil, . 

Ploughing,  operation  of,  . 

Plumule  of  the  plant, 


Page. 

50,51 

109, 170 

109, 170,  254 

8 

226 

137 

74 

54 

74 

107,  108 

45,  46,  47 

150,  151 

196, 197 

18,  58,  72 

238 

66 

7 

7 

90 

101 

143,  186,  214 
135, 189, 190, 191 
175, 176 
176 
252 
125, 126 
46 
31 
61 
65 
61 
54 
15,  96, 102,  117 
154, 162 
153, 162 
95 
231 
.    40,  146 
50,  147,  177,  213 
.  147,  149,  150 
142,  155, 159,  162 
.  143, 144 
130, 131, 132,  143, 144,  159,  184 
48,49 


INDEX.  281 

Page. 

Poisonous  gases,       .' 127, 128,  129 

Pollen  of  the  flower,         .        . 46, 47 

Porphyry,  hardness  of, 76 

Potato,  the  wild, 56 

Potato,  mode  of  raising  the, 177, 178, 179,  213 

Potash  in  ashes, 15,  62 

Potash  plants, 66 

Poultry,  profits  of, 242 

Protean  substances, 70 

Pruning,  best  time  for,      .        . 221,  251,  252,  253 

Pudding  stone  rocks, 76 

Purifiers,  use  of, 122 

Quality  of  manures, 118 

Quartz,  composition  of,     ...        = 91 

Quicklime,  action  of,        . 100 

Radiation  of  heat, 19,  31 

Rain,  cause  of, 37,  38 

Raspberry,  cultivation  of  the, 252 

Reaper,  use  of  the, 212 

Remedy  for  exhaustion, 97 

Rennet,  preparation  of, •        •  263 

Richest  soils  contain  all  ingredients, 84 

Rocks,  decomposition  of, 124 

Rockweed  as  a  manure, 110 

Roller,  use  of  the, 145,  146,  155, 170,  192 

Root  of  the  plant, 44,  157 

Roots,  culture  of,  as  preparation  of  land, 106 

Rotation  of  manures, 207 

Rotation,  principles  of, 200,  201 

Rotation,  the  Norfolk. 206 

Rush  famih'  of  plants, 54 

Rye,  varieties  and  uses  of, 167,  168,  212,  268 

Sago  palm,  starch  in  the, •        •        •        •        •  68 

Salt  as  a  fertilizer, 107, 108 

Saltpetre,  importance  of,  in  agriculture, 15 

Salts,  union  with  acids, 14,  15,  63 

Sandstone,  composition  of, 77 

Sandy  soils,  origin  of, 77,  84,  85,  86 

Sap,  changes  of,        , 46 

Sowing,  time  of, 201,202 

Sea  plants,  manuring  qualities  of.    .        . 110 

Seed-bed,  preparation  of  the, •   156,167,192,109 


282  INDEX. 

Page. 

Seed,  fertility  of  the, 47 

Seed,  depth  of  covering,  . 192 

Seed,  quantity  of, 152,  166,  167,  170,  181 

Seed,  selection  of, 147,  149,  150,  151, 163,  190 

Seed  sower,  use  of  the, 154,155,165,169,197 

Seeds,  change  of, 149,  150 

Seeds,  choice  of, 147, 149,  150,  151,  163,  190 

Seeds,  germination  of, 145,  147,  148,  153 

Seeds,  steeping  of, 153,161,182,184.218 

Seeds,  vitality  of, 149,  184 

Seven  fold  rotation, 201,202 

Sheep,  breeds  of, 239,  240,  241 

Sheep,  feeding  and  management  of, 18,  240,  241 

Sheep,  feeding  of  turnips  to, 181 

Shell  lime  from  the  oyster, 101 

Short-horn  cattle,  characteristics  of, 233 

Shrubs,  characteristics  of, 55 

Sienite,  composition  of, 76 

Signs  of  rain 28,  29 

Silex  in  the  straw  of  grains, 62 

Silica  plants,  why  so  called, 66 

Silicious  soils  and  rocks,  .        . .  75 

Simplest  plant,  power  of  the, 57 

Smut  in  plants,  cure  for, 217,  218 

Snow,  protection  afforded  by, 38 

Soap,  manufacture  and  cleansing  properties  of,        ...        .    62,  271,  272 

Soda  found  in  ashes  of  sea  plants, 63 

Soil,  absorptive  power  of  the, 41 

Soil,  fertility  of  the, 90,91,152 

Soil,  best  quality  of, 84 

Soil,  mechanical  condition  of  the,    ....     134,140,  141,  143,  145,  164 

Soil,  moisture  in  the, 137,  141,  153 

Soil,  nitrogen  in  the, 144 

Soil,  temperature  of  the, 141, 144 

Soot  as  a  manure, 105 

Sowing,  early  and  late, 153, 157, 171, 176 

Sowing,  modes  of, 154, 165, 169 

Sowing,  thin  and  thick, 152, 156, 166, 172 

Spade,  use  of  the, 142 

Species,  division  of  genera  into, 51 

Springs,  sources  of, 39 

Sprout,  bursting  of  the, 48 

Squash  bugs,  destruction  of, 226 

Starch,  peculiarities  of, 67,  68 

Stable,  cleanliness  of  the, •     .        •'       •    13,117,118 


INDEX.  283 


Page. 
Stem  of  the  plant, 45.  49 

Stock,  object  of  keeping, 232,  233,  235,  247 

Stock,  breeds  of, 232,  233 

Stock,  loss  in  slaughtering, 233 

Stooking  of  corn, 163,  164 

Stones,  removal  of, 136,  145,  243 

Stone  drains,  mode  of  laying, 138,  139 

Strawberry,  culture  of  the, 252 

Streams,  origin  of, 39 

Structure  of  the  earth, 74 

Stumps,  removal  of, 135, 136 

Subsoil  ploughing, 133,  143,  144 

Subsoil,  influence  of,  on  vegetation, 92,  93, 143 

Substitutes  for  stable  manure, 124, 125 

Sulphate  of  potash  and  soda, 102 

Sugar,  characteristics  of, *.  69 

Sulphuretted  hydrogen,  offensive  odor  of, 12, 113,  127 

Sulphur,  common,  in, vegetables, 8,  61,  102 

Sulphuric  acid  in  plants, 8,  63,  65, 102 

Sun,  light  of  the,      .        .        . 17, 20,  22 

Super-phosphate  of  lime, .        .  108 

Swamps,  soil  of,        .        .        .        .  • ,      86,  88 

Swedes,  preparation  of  land  for. 180 

Swine,  food  for, 241 

Tannin,  where  found,       .        .        .        .  • 72 

Temperature  of  the  air, 24,  25,  30 

Temperature  of  cream,     .        .        .        ...        .        .        .        .        .  260 

Temperature  of  stables, 239 

Temperature  of  the  dairy  room, 257,  258,  260 

Temperature  of  the  soil, 141,  153,  154 

Thermometer,  construction  of  the, .        .      24,  25 

Thunder  storms,  cause  of, 38 

Tile  drains, 138,  139 

Tillage,  effect  of, 132,133 

Tobacco,  cultivation  of,    . 199 

Tool-room,  importance  of  a,      .........  245 

Trap  rock,  composition  of,        ...       , 76 

Transplanting,  advantages  of, 156, 157,  253 

Trees,  organs  of, 49 

Trees,  pruning  of, .        .        .  221, 251,  252 

Trees,  transplanting  of, 150,  157,  253 

Trees,  trunks  of, 49 

Tubers,  planting  of, 147, 177,  213 

Turnip,  climate  and  soil  adapted  to  the, 179, 18Q 


284  INDEX. 


Page. 

Tiirnip,  cultivation  of  the, 180, 181 

Turnip,  varieties  of  the, 180,  181 

Unclerdrains,  construction  of, .        .  138 

Undershrubs,  what  thej  are, 55 

Unleached  ashes,  value  of  as  a  manure,  .......  104 

Vapor  in  the  air, 6,  7,  36 

Varieties,  obtaining  new, 150,  151 

Variations  in  temperature, 30 

Vegetable  jelly,        .        .        . 67,  68 

Vegetable  life, 20 

Vegetable  manures, 108,  110,  111 

Vegetable  oils,  peculiarity  of,   .        .      - 69 

Ventilation,  necessity  of, 12, 13 

Vetch  sown  with  oats, 177 

Vinous  fermentation, 117 

Warm  soils,  dryness  of,    .        .     , 89 

Water,  absorptive  power  of, 39 

Water,  effect  of  on  soil, 137,  141 

Water,  removal  of,    .        .        .        .        .  * 117,  139,  141 

Water,  three  forms  of, 35,  36 

Wastes  of  the  farm, 245,  246,  248,  253 

Watering  the  manure  heap, 116,  119 

Wax  on  plants, 69 

Weather,  changes  of  the, 24,  28,  29 

Weathering,  process  of, 81 

Weight  of  the  air, 8,26 

Weeds,  use  of  as  a  manure, 204 

Wet  lands,  coldness  of, 89 

Wheat,  composition  of, 71,264,267 

Wheat,  cultivation  of, 165,166,212,216,253 

Wheat,  soils  for, 164,216 

Wheat  sown  in  drills, 155,  165, 166 

Wheat,  varieties  of, 164,  216 

Wheat  midge,  inj  ury  by  the, 227 

Willows  and  their  culture, 54,  196,  197 

Wind,  indications  of  the, 6,  28,  30 

Yeast,  effect  of, 266 

Young  stock,  management  ot, 234,  235,  247 


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